‘Harry Potter Snake’, Salazar Pit Viper, Rescued From Bihar MLA’s House
Salazar pit viper, a venomous snake, is rarely seen in Bihar and was first identified in 2019 in western Arunachal Pradesh.
Published : September 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM IST
West Champaran: A rare Salazar pit viper was rescued from the private residence of Valmikinagar MLA Dhirendra Pratap on Sunday, officials said. The venomous snake, named after the character Salazar Slytherin from J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series, was found in the kitchen of the legislator’s house near Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), they said.
“The forest worker Shankar Yadav safely captured it, and the reptile was later released into the dense forest,” according to the VTR officials.
Abhishek, Project Manager with the Nature Environment Welfare Society, said the Salazar pit viper (or Trimeresurus salazar) is rarely seen in Bihar and was first identified in 2019 in western Arunachal Pradesh.
“The species is slender, 14 to 16 inches long, and often marked by a red-orange stripe on the male’s neck,” he said.
According to Abhishek, a similar bamboo pit viper is found in western India, but the Salazar variety is more venomous. “The species is nocturnal, typically found coiled on branches, and occurs in parts of Northeast India, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Bangladesh,” he said.
The snake gets its name, ‘Trimeresurus salazar’, after Salazar Slytherin, a Parselmouth (able to talk with serpents) wizard, co-founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the founder of the House of Slytherin from Harry Potter.
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