First record of an Indian Egg-Eater (Elachistodon westermanni) in Rajkot, Gujarat

Boiga westermanni (Reinhardt 1863) (Colubridae), has recently been reassigned from the genus Elachistodon to the genus Boiga by Mohan et al. (2018).The species is listed as being of Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Srinivasulu et al. 2013), despite being included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 (Ministry of Law and Justice 2022).Murty et al. (1993) stated that many herpetologists thought this species was extinct, and Sharma (1998) noted it is among the rarest snakes in southern Asia.Its distribution extends from Bangladesh (Reinhardt 1863) to Nepal (Fleming and Fleming 1974; Mitchell and Zug 1995) and India (Smith 1943).Piplod, Surat (urban garden) Vyas 2006 Vitoriya Park, Bhavnagar (thorny scrub forest) Vyas 2006 Jesar Town, Amreli (thorny scrub and open degraded area) Vyas 2010 Khetra Village, Junagarh (agricultural fields) Vyas 2010 Sasan Village (near agricultural fields and dry deciduous forest) Vyas 2010 Kharaghoda, Surendranagar (dry thorny scrub dominated by Mesquites, Prosophis sp.) Vyas 2013 Hindorana Village, Amreli (degraded coastal forest, riverine habitat with agricultural fields) Vyas 2013 Kangvai, Chikhali, Navsari District (on a road surrounded by agricultural fields) Vyas 2016 Vadiya Village, Nr.