ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A two-headed snake has been discovered in the Kurdistan Region.
Mohammed Mahmoud, a farmer, discovered the snake in the village of Qadr in the eastern Sulaimani province district of Said Sadiq. Mahmoud found the snake while working in the village.
“It was very strange," Mahmoud recalled. “Wednesday was a regular day for me. For the past 30 years I’ve been farming our land here in this village. Suddenly, I noticed the snake in the stream while the water level was low.”
Mahmoud took the snake to his home, determined to keep it alive.
The dice snake (Natrix tessellata), also called water snake, is a non-venomous snake from the Colubridae family. In Kurdish it is known as bora mare awa (dark water snake). This particular snake was 21 centimeters long and weighed less than 80 grams. It was less than a year old.
Aram Ghafoor, an expert in snake identification, has spent over 25 years documenting and photographing Kurdish wildlife. He teamed up with Rudaw to visit the location where the snake was discovered. Ghafoor keeps a number of snakes at his home.
Ghafoor says the discovery of a two-headed snake was bizarre and has never been seen in the Kurdistan Region.
“In the Kurdistan Region there are 10 different species of snakes,” Ghafoor said. “However, this species of snake is rare, especially one having two heads.”
“It lives in both water and land but they cannot handle high temperatures so they need to be well protected,” he added.
Scientific research shows one out of a hundred thousand snakes are born with two heads. Double-headed snakes live on average between six and 17 years. An expert cited by National Geographic said their chances of surviving in the wild are low.
Reporting by Horvan Rafaat
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