11 pythons hatched using incubator at Chattogram Zoo

Eleven python eggs have been hatched using incubators at Chattogram Zoo.

"A python at the zoo laid 15 eggs two months ago. We collected the eggs and put them in our incubator under a controlled temperature for 65 days. Four eggs got damaged but the other 11 hatched on Friday," said Shahadat Hossain, veterinary surgeon at Chattogram Zoo.

"The baby pythons will be kept in the incubator for at least a month until they shed their skin for the first time. After that, they will be fed and later the juvenile pythons will be released into their natural habitat upon consultation with the deputy commissioner," he added.

There are two species of pythons found in Bangladesh -- Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus), and Burmese Python (Python bivittatus). The zoo, run by Chattogram District Administration and established in 1989, is located on about 2.5 hectares of hilly terrain in the city's Foy's Lake area.