A big, blue snake is making its re-debut in Alabama.
The rare Eastern indigo snake has been spotted in the state for just the second time in 60 years — marking what researchers have now deemed a successful reptile reintroduction program.
“The snake found yesterday indicates the project is resulting in some thriving and reproducing indigos, just what we wanted!” wrote the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division on Facebook last Thursday. “Reintroducing a species to its native range is a daunting task, and we celebrate each step of its success!”
The nonvenomous snake is considered the largest species native to the US, known to grow over 7 feet long. Human-propelled habitat loss had nearly erased the species, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
In 2006, Alabama conservationists launched an initiative to reintroduce the apex predator to the region, which they hope will bring ecological balance to the state’s longleaf pine forests. Using captive-born relatives from Georgia, released in 2010, they ultimately hope to see at least 300 indigo snakes return to Alabama.
They’re confident the new specimen was hatched in the wild, indicated by its small size and the fact that it hadn’t been tagged by researchers, as were the Georgia snakes.
The state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources noted their first wild-born indigo snake sighting in 2020.
Jim Godwin, an animal biologist with the Auburn University Museum of Natural History, told CNN that both were found by accident.
“It’s difficult to just go out and do a search for them because they’re small, and they can hide very easily,” he said. But this latest sighting confirms that the snakes are “functioning as wild snakes, and are reproducing.”