Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore(SM/AF)

Mangalore, May 4:  The first scientific captive breeding centre of the country for king cobra was inaugurated at the Pilikula Biological Park at Moodushedde village on Thursday May 3 near here.

The centre has been set up set up under the management of Romolus Whittaker, an expert on reptiles.

To start the centre officially, Whittaker exchanged documents of a memorandum of understanding with the president of the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama Society and deputy commissioner, Aravind Shrivastava.

The centre has five king cobras and the first breeding cycle would start by month end, said Whittaker. The centre would seek assistance from experts in the country among who will be Lalji Singh of Hyderabad. The centre plans to introduce many new natural techniques of captive breeding in the near future, he said.

Measuring 14.3 feet, Raja is the largest king cobra in captivity in the county, said Whittaker. Captive breeding of king cobras would help in conserving the species which in turn would enable the zoological parks to get them without causing any change in their habitat, he said.

Karnataka bank chairman Ananthakrishna, Nisarga Dhama Society executive director J R Lobo and others were present.