The Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit have rescued a five-foot-long black-headed royal snake from a grocery store (Kendriya Bhandar) at Delhi Secretariat Building, an official statement said on Friday.
The snake is currently under the NGO's care and will soon be released back into the wild, it said. It was found on Thursday.
The snake was nestled on a shelf, behind a stack of sealed bhujia packets. The office staff immediately alerted the security personnel who then contacted Wildlife SOS, it stated.
The NGO's rescue team swiftly reached the secretariat building and located the adult black-headed royal snake.
It then carefully extricated the nearly five-foot-long snake and safely transferred it into a bag, the statement said.
"We thank the staff at the secretariat building for alerting us to this situation and keeping a watch until our rescue team arrived," Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS said.
"Due to the ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure on wild habitats, animals are sometimes forced to venture into human-populated areas.
Advertisement"This situation is a great example to let people know that they are not intruders but inhabitants of the same city that we reside in," he said.
Wasim Akram, Deputy Director-Special Projects for Wildlife SOS said the snake, though long and ominous looking, is actually harmless.
Advertisement"The Black-headed royal snake is an adaptable species and being a non-venomous reptile, they are harmless. This species is commonly found in Delhi-NCR and they mostly feed on rodents, lizards, birds and even small mammals," Mr Akram said.
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