World's sensation in Randers Regnskov: Bushmaster babies!

There were lost of proud handshakes, hugs and congratulations between the co-workers in Randers Regnskov this Monday morning. Randers Regnskov has, as just the second zoo in the world, succeeded in breeding the world’s largest viper – the South American bushmaster.

Director Henrik Herold’s heart beats for this amazing animal, so to succeed in breeding them is something very special; “This is something that I’ve been dreaming about for years, so naturally, I’m very very happy! The only other zoo this have ever happened in, is - as far as we know - Dallas Zoo, so now we can join this very exclusive club of bushmaster breeders”, says Henrik with a big smile on his face.

Absolute climatic control

After 72 days of incubation, the first baby came out of the soft egg shell Monday morning. The animal keeper of the poisonous snakes Kristian Sørensen explains: “The bushmaster lays its eggs in underground caves, so it is very important for us to incubate the eggs at an even and not to high temperature. We therefore first had to cool down the room in which the incubator was. Afterwards we had to heat up the incubator to exact 26 degrees Celsius and keep it at this temperature”.

Eight out of nine eggs were fertile, and at this moment two babies have completely come out of their egg, and more is peeking out. The bushmaster babies can be seen in the same cage as their parents in the South American dome.