Trivandrum: People throng zoo to see green anacondas

People in Thiruvananthapuram city thronged the local zoo on Friday to see seven green anacondas imported from Dehiwala Zoo in Sri Lanka last year.

"The vacation season is on, and this is a nice place to visit. First, we had to go to other places to see anacondas, but now we have anacondas here in the local zoo. The environment created here is fully supportive for these species. The officials here are taking good care of the reptile," said a visitor, Vinod.

The arrival of these snakes has increased the revenue of the zoo as large number people thronged the reptile park see the new members.

"In 2014, April 10 seven Anacondas came in to Thiruvananthapuram Zoo and after that revenue raised a lot. Last year also the revenue was 2-3 crores and now it is 6 crore or near 7 crores," said zoo superintendent, K Sadasivan Pillai.

The zoo authorities have built new enclosures for the anacondas. The seven green anacondas, six of them females, together weigh 90 kilogram. The male anaconda is aged two years and six females aged three.

Longest and heaviest variety of snakes, anacondas are found in tropical South America. Anacondas live in swamps, marshes and slow moving streams in the tropical rainforests of Amazon. Primarily a nocturnal, they spend most of their life in and around water.