The fewer human activities in a place, the more sustainable it is for animals. Although Arunachal Pradesh is continuously driving towards the road to development, the region is still largely covered by forests and its wildlife creatures.

 This article will cover one of the most fascinating cold-blooded creatures that can be found thriving in the deep wilderness of Arunachal Pradesh - Snakes. Northeast India is home to around 110 species of snakes with Arunachal accounting for 55 of them. Let's begin by knowing some of them!

The Mock Viper (Psammodynastes pulverulentus)

The mock viper is a small species of snake that grows to a maximum length of 65 cm. When threatened, it will curl into protective coils and strike like a viper. Although it is a harmless, back-fanged species, it can still bite, which could lead to a terrible skin puncture wound from its sharp front teeth.

This Common Mock Viper can be found in a variety of altitudes, from low-lying forested areas to mountains with altitudes of up to 1600 m. It can be occasionally seen hanging from branches above water streams, concealing itself in the surrounding vegetation and likely seeking prey.

Crying Keelback (Hebius Lacrima)

In 2018, Jayaditya Purkayastha of Help Earth in Guwahati and Partick David of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris discovered a new species of Crying Keelback snake, an adult male measuring 48.7 cm long, in the Basar town, Lepa Rada district, Arunachal Pradesh. The Hebius Lacrima is a non-venomous keelback snake that prefers to reside close to streams and paddy fields. "Lacrima" is Latin for "tear." They have a diet of small fish, tadpoles, frogs, and geckos that allows them to survive. Its name comes from the black spot under its eyes, which resembles a teardrop as if it were crying. The snake belongs to the genus Hebius and its discovery has been published in the Zootaxa journal.

The Arunachal Pit Viper (Trimeresurus Arunachalensis)

A group of herpetologists led by Ashok Captain with V. Deepak, Rohan Pandit, Bharat Bhatt, and Ramana Athreya has discovered a new species of snake in West Kameng. It is a reddish-brown pit viper, a poisonous snake with a special heat-sensing system. The team encountered the snake while conducting biodiversity surveys in the Eaglenest region near the village of Ramda, which is in the West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, and it is the only place where it has been identified. This species is one of the rarest pit vipers in the world because there is just one specimen known of it and Arunachal Pradesh in India, is the only known home to this particular kind of venomous pit viper. This rare species is named after the region where it occurs and its discovery was published in the March-April (2019) volume of the Russian Journal of Herpetology.

 Jerdon’s Red Spotted Pit Viper
(Protobothrops jerdonii xanthomelas)

Protobothrops jerdonii is a venomous pit viper species in the subfamily; Crotalinae of the family Viperidae, found in India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. During 2006-2008, while conducting a herpetofauna survey of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh; four Indian researchers reported the first record of the Jerdon’s Red Spotted Pit viper in the region. This species was located in Lama Camp (West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh, India) at a range of approximately 1,200 km southwest of Sichuan in China.

Trimeresurus Salazar or Salazar's pit viper

Salazar's pit viper is a new species of pit viper that has been discovered from a survey in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh by a team of researchers of the National Centre for Biological Science, Bangalore, India, whose studies have been published in Zoosystematics and Evolution. The stunning green serpent has been named after Salazar Slytherin from J.K  Rowling's popular Harry Potter universe.

Researchers believe that it is one of over 50 different species of venomous snakes in its genus that have been identified for its heat-sensing pits in their heads which they utilise to hunt and navigate. Several of these species have similar traits with deep green hues and other morphological characteristics. It was observed that the scales of the new species resemble those of Trimeresurus septentrionalis, Trimeresurus insularis Kramer, and Trimeresurus albolabris but what set it apart, is a reddish-orange lateral stripe on the head, alongside other obvious but subtle variations.

Slender Snake
(Trachischium apteii)

Trachischium apteii is a species endemic to India, it was named so to honour the contribution of Deepak Apte, a well-known marine biologist, and scientist. Researchers discovered this new species of a non-venomous burrowing snake, under the fallen logs inside a thickly forested area of the Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary near the town of Ziro, Lower Subansiri District in Arunachal Pradesh during a field expedition in July 2019. The newly found species is a member of a family of snakes called fossorials that spend most of their time underground and come to the surface only during or right after a particularly strong monsoon. Due to the species of this genus's tendency for burrowing, it is extremely challenging to study and record these creatures because they are rarely observed.

 Snakes might look terrifying but they are one of the most important creatures in the ecosystem that assists in maintaining ecological balance. Arunachal Pradesh is so rich in biodiversity that researchers continue to discover new, rare and unique finds now and then. The state is indeed a paradise for scientists who seek the thrill of uncovering exotic treasures amidst nature.