A female python and its unborn babies are being rescued by rangers of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) assigned in East Nimba Reserve (ENNR), Nimba County, Liberia, from the clutch of untimely death. The female python was reportedly going through a delivery period when the hostile community dwellers galloped to the area and decided to eliminate the entire generation, classifying it as a specie from an enemy world.
On May 2, 2024, the female python was discovered on a farmland in Gbobayee Town, northern Nimba, directly under Mount Blei. According to report, the owner of the farm, who happens to have knowledge on protected species due to on-going awareness about the need to protect endangered animals, immediately rushed to the town and informed the chief, who is said to have invited the head of the Community Forest Guard of the Blei Joint Community Forest Management Body (JCFMB) and told them about the need to rescue the python that was giving birth.
According to FDA Ranger Catherine Kuku Dolo, Chief Park Warden of ENNR, when the information reached FDA Office in Zortapa she subsequently dispatched few rangers and Eco guards in the area. The gallant and vigilant rangers, Eco guards, and Community Forest Guards then provided maximum protection for the python and its unborn babies.
Chief Park Warden Dolo said, “Since this activity, we contacted our conservation partners to help our rangers and Eco guards but to no avail. We managed to work tirelessly to protect the python’s eggs up to the hatching stage. The python eggs started hatching since the 12th of June 2024 and we have managed to collect nineteen (19) babies that are being kept at the East Nimba Nature Reserve office in Zortapa currently.”
She continued, “We have also been doing some research and calling other snake experts for consultations, and they advised that we should release them as soon as possible deep into the wild with no human interaction.
FDA’s Deputy Managing Director for Conservation, Community and Carbon(3cs), Nora Bowier, has commended the rangers for job well done, and called on partners to support the efforts of the eco guards.