A king cobra made a spectacular escape from its prison during the weekend, forcing a Swedish zoo to temporarily close down.
On Monday, employees were still looking for the deadly stray.
The snake, known as Sir Vas (Sir Hiss), was thought to be hiding someplace in an interior ceiling after it broke out from a terrarium on Saturday via a light bulb.
He had just recently been introduced to the zoo. According to Jonas Wahlstrom, director of the Skansen Aquarium, the snake has been dubbed Houdini in honor of the renowned escape artist.
Sticky traps have been set up, and staff have scattered flour to attempt to find the elusive fugitive.
They have also brought in specialized cameras made for inspecting sewage pipelines in order to look in hard-to-reach places.
King cobras had lived in the terrarium for almost 15 years, but the new resident only needed a few days to figure out how to escape, according to Wahlstrom.
He laughed, “It turned out to be smart.
According to him, the snake that fled had an edge over previous occupants since a low-energy light had just been installed in the top lamp of the cage.
No snake wanted to approach since the previous light was so scorching, according to Wahlstrom. The new king cobra, realizing that it was no longer hot at all, managed to insert its head between the lightbulb and the light fixture before being expelled.
Is it safe to be here? can be heard a worried individual asking on footage of the escape that a visitor was able to catch.
No, but we’re working on it, a staff worker said gently.
After that, the reptile area was evacuated and is now shut down until the escaping cobra is found.
Its escape to the outside was not a concern, according to Wahlstrom.
It won’t be able to escape, but in a best-case scenario, it would pass out due to the extreme cold, according to Wahlstrom.
He emphasized the fact that king cobras are usually peaceful and won’t attack.
The longest poisonous snake in the world is the king cobra, which is native to South and Southeast Asia.
However, if left untreated, their bites may be lethal to people. They mostly feed on other snakes.