Why Is This Protected 10-Foot Python Getting Plastic Surgery?

Wildlife officials in India are preparing to give a 10-foot-long python plastic surgery, which could be the first-of-its-kind treatment for a vulnerable species in India. 

The country’s Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), along with the government forest department, rescued an Indian rock python early this month. The reptile, estimated to be between 8 to 12 years old, was found at a bus stop in the thick of Mumbai, one of the most populous cities in the world. The expanding metropolis, also considered the financial district of India, has been seeing a rise in human-wildlife conflict as green tracts disappear to make way for development. 

This 17-kilogram male python, which has not yet been named, was found with a fractured jaw along with multiple other fractures on the face and head, and some major open wounds. Rescuers and veterinarians looking after it now say a reconstructive plastic surgery will have to be performed to save it. “The injuries are very severe and critical in nature,” Pawan Sharma, the founder of RAWW, told VICE World News, adding that the plastic surgery is the only way to nurse the animal back to health. 

The Indian rock python is among the world’s largest snakes. It is poached across South Asia and its exquisite scaly skin is used in black markets, even though the reptile is given the highest level of protections under Indian wildlife laws and listed in an international treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the international trade. 

Plastic surgery on wildlife in India is rare. Over the last few years, plastic surgeons have operated on dogs in some countries, as a way to relieve painful medical issues. Sharma added that similar – but not this severe – cases were seen in 2018 and 2019, where Indian rock pythons were found with dislocation in their jaw or other facial fractures. They were, however, nursed back to health without plastic surgery and released back into the wild. 

The exact reason for this python’s injuries are not known. RAWW rescuers suspect it was displaced due to heavy rains, and the injuries are due to hitting a hard object, possibly from falling from a height, or being run over by a vehicle, or entanglement. 

Pythons are generally slow-moving and docile snakes. This one was rescued after passersby in Mumbai’s Wadala neighbourhood spotted it and called the forest officials and the RAWW hotline. 

This plastic surgery will be a major step forward for wildlife medical sciences in India, said Sharma. “[It] could be a major breakthrough for wildlife conservation and rehabilitation too,” he added. “Many rare and endangered species that are found severely injured will have some scope of being saved, and also enable us to release them back to their natural habitat.”

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