The Memphis Zoo recently welcomed the hatching of one of the rarest snakes in America — a Louisiana pine snake.
The zoo posted a video of the snakelet meeting its mother behind an enclosure. It’s the first of 114 eggs to hatch — the largest amount of eggs the zoo has seen in a season since starting its breeding program for the species.
The zoo said the viability of the clutches of eggs depends on many factors, but typically 50% to 70% will hatch successfully from their colony of Louisiana pine snakes.
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The hatchlings will be kept at the zoo for eight to nine months before being released into the wild in April or May.
Memphis Zoo has produced over 150 Louisiana pine snakes, an endangered species found in the wild in Louisiana and parts of Texas.
In collaboration with partnering institutions, the zoo’s reintroduction program has released over 400 Louisiana pine snakes back into protected habitat.
The Louisiana pine snake has been part of a managed breeding program, led by Memphis Zoo, within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1984.
The release of captive-bred hatchlings began back in 2010.
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Memphis Zoo said the goal of the breeding program is to “sustainably manage an ex-situ population while supporting in-situ conservation of this species through releases.”
When the program first began, the captive colonies were spread between 23 different zoos with small numbers of Louisiana pine snakes, which resulted in low numbers of offspring being produced.
But in 2016, the snakes were consolidated into four main breeding centers with partnering zoos — Audubon Zoo, Fort Worth Zoo, Ellen Trout Zoo and Memphis Zoo — which increased the reproductive output.
