Five monitor lizards, three snakes rescued from residential areas in Gurugram

While pre-monsoon showers on Wednesday night brought the city some respite, wildlife activists were on their toes as they responded to distress calls from residents.

Activists reported having received as many as 12 calls on Wednesday night and Thursday morning from residents seeking rescue of monitor lizards and snakes spotted outside their houses and in parks.

While eight rescue operations were conducted successfully, snakes couldn’t be traced at four other locations. In another three locations, monitor lizards sighted by residents slipped out of view by the time the rescue teams moved in.

Anil Gandas, conservator, wildlife department, Haryana, said he received 15 such calls over the last 24 hours. He said he rescued three snakes — an Indian rock python, spectacled cobra and a rat snake — as well as five monitor lizards from multiple locations.

“I received calls from some Palam Vihar residents on Thursday afternoon saying that they had spotted a black cobra near a tree. I rushed to the spot, but before I could rescue the snake, some residents had killed it,” Gandas said.

A resident of block T, DLF-3, said she spotted a monitor lizard in her extended storeroom on the ground floor at 6.30am on Thursday and sent word to Gandas. Responding to her call, a wildlife rescue team arrived at the spot soon after and took away the reptile.

In block G, Sector 57, a family spent an anxious afternoon after spotting a four-foot-long monitor lizard on their front door. It was taken away after they informed a wildlife rescue team.

Anuradha Peasad, a resident of block G-52, Sector 57, said she was rattled to see a huge monitor lizard clinging to her front door and trying to crawl in on Thursday. It was eventually rescued.

In another successful operation at the CRPF Camp in Kadarpur, a five-feet-long male India rock python, weighing 8kg, was rescued around 11.30pm on Wednesday.

Rescuers said the python did try to slither away during the 35-minute-long operation, but was kept under strict surveillance by some women officials, who had been deployed near the boundary wall till the rescue team reached the spot.

In another successful operation, a three-year-old rattle snake was rescued from Gadoli Khurd village on Thursday. The snake had sneaked into a house and was hiding behind the bucket in the lawn.

In Kherki Majra village, a one-year-old cobra was rescued on Thursday morning.

Also, five monitor lizards, three- to five-feet-long and weighing between 4 and 5 grams, were rescued from DLF-3, Sector 57, Sushant Lok-1, Gadoli Khurd and Kherki Majra on Thursday.

Vinod Kumar, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Gurugram, said, that the forest department had rescued 250 snakes and 86 monitor lizards from across the city last monsoon.