Villagers Refuse to Hand Over Venomous Two-Headed Snake in Bengal Citing 'Mythological Belief'

In Bengal’s Midnapore city, a two-headed snake was found in a village. However, forest officials could not rescue it as local villagers refused to hand over the snake due to mythological beliefs.

Kaustav Chakraborty, a herpetologist of the Forest Department spoke to news agency ANI and said, “This is totally a biological issue like a human being can have two heads or thumbs similarly this snake has two heads. This doesn't have to do anything related to mythological belief. The longevity of such species increases by keeping them in captivity. The life span of this snake can be increased if it is preserved.”

Speaking about the snake, which was found in Ekarukhi village of Belda forest range in West Bengal’s Midnapore city, zoologist Soma Chakraborty said that it belongs to Naja Kautia species.

She further added that this species is also known as Bengal Kharis, Keute and in Hindi, it is called Kala Naag, which is venomous.

"There is no mythological thing in this case. There are many factors behind the formation of two head. It might be formed at the time of splitting of the embryo or maybe due to some environmental factors," ANI quoted her saying.

While some twitter user found the snake rare and gorgeous, others managed to come up with jokes and memes about the snake.