TEHRAN - Tehran Zoological Garden will hold on Friday a festival on protection of Latifii viper, a venomous viper species endemic to Iran.

It is one of most rare vipers, which is classified Endangered (En) according to the Red List of Threatened Spices of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Tehran Zoological Garden vet Iman Memarian told Mehr news agency.

The specific name, Latifii, is in honor of Iranian herpetologist Mahmoud Latifi, who collected the holotype. It is found in Iran in the upper Lar Valley in the Alborz Mountains.

SB/MG