Kathmandu. Ganesh Sah, a reptile rescuer, discovered two unique species of white venomous snakes, Bungarus walli and Bungarus niger at two diffrent places of Dhanusa district, Province 2 in Nepal.

Earlier last month, a research paper authored by 5 wildlife researchers was published online on Herpetology Notes. The paper talked about “leucism in snakes of Nepal”.

One of the authors, Ganesh Sah, who is also a reptile rescuer and wildlife photographer found a pink skinned, black-eyed wall’s krait (Bungarus walli) in the Dhanushadham municipality on April 25. The snake was captured and kept in a pot and it took much effort to Shah to convince the snke to its natural habitat, he said.

Similarly, on June 3, another species of white snake, Bungarus niger, commonly known as greater black krait was discovered in the same municipality.

Leucism is a hereditary disorder in which the skin shows partial or complete absence of color, forming a colorless pinkish white body. It has been observed in a number of snakes, but it seems to be usually rare in nature.

The bright pinkish white color hinders their ability to get camouflaged in front of the prey causing them difficulties in finding food. The absence of thermal pigment coating also causes them to be susceptible to temperature.

Leucism is often confused with albinism, however, in albinism, the body pigmentation is completely lacking, and eyes appear to be pink.

These species of white snakes discovered in Nepal are the first of their kind in the world.