Chinese scientists artificially hatch rare snakes

A pearl-banded rat snake at the Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Aug 16, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The mother snake laid the eggs about two months ago and baby snakes came out of eggs recently, said Dingli, deputy researcher at the Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, on Sept 2.

The breeding marked an important step to understanding the species and the future protection, Ding said.

Because its habitat is quite limited and its wild population is rather small, it is difficult to fully understand this type of snake, Ding said.