BAF says reptile found on Qamea can be an eel

The Biosecurity Authority of Fiji yesterday said it was possible that a reptile recently found on Qamea Island was an eel.

This followed a family finding a snake-like creature after one of them burnt debris near their Qamea house on Monday.

Monica Seeto who was visiting her mother said that her uncle Apisai Tatau, after cutting wood in a nearby forest in Saravi had burnt the debris. It was then that he saw something moving in the fire.

“He picked it up and realised that it was a red snake but it had legs under its belly,” Ms Seeto said.

“The creature though half burnt was still moving,” she said.

“I ran to see what my uncle was holding because I have never seen such a kind of creature on the island although it was not unusual to see snakes on Qamea.”

“But the dog had bitten into it and it was dead when we got to my uncle. “Four small legs were sprouting out near its tail end.

“There are lot of snakes and iguana on Qamea Island but we have never seen anything like this creature. A statement from BAF stated that the island of Qamea has local (native) snakes although not with four legs. There are local eels which sometimes walk on land when creeks on the island dry up.

The statement added that it was possible, therefore, that the creature was an eel.

The public should not be unnecessarily alarmed or panic; they should inform any new sightings to BAF. The statement added that Fiji does not have snakes with four legs.

A BAF veterinary biologist left for Taveuni and Qamea yesterday and returns to Suva on October 24 to obtain more information on the find. Meanwhile in Suva, families in a modest home in Kinoya got a preDiwali visit from a scary customer after they found a one-metre long snake on their bathroom window on Diwali eve.

The owner of the house on Khalsa Road, Subodhni Nand, at first, thought the snake that he found perched on the window, was a toy. “We were a bit scared but it was Diwali and this is the first time a snake has come to the house. We called SPCA and they told us to drop it on Orchid Island.”

BAF said there was no need for the public to be alarmed by the discovery.

“Fiji does not have terrestrial poisonous snakes. We have the native Pacific Boa, but it is not poisonous.”