15-ft-long king cobra caught in Andhra Pradesh, released in forest

RAJAHMUNDRY: A rare 15-ft-long king cobra caught recently in a residential area of Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district has been released in a forest after the Visakhapatnam Zoological Park refused to house it.

The veterinarians, who examined the rare reptile, found it to be pregnant, forest officials said.

The experts were of the view that the serpent was likely to deliver a number of young ones which would be dangerous for the other animals in the zoo and that its maintenance would be expensive, they said.

Therefore, the venomous snake was later released in a deep forest area between Visakhapatnam and East Godavari district agency area.

"We had taken the 15-feet long king cobra, which was caught in the agency area of Rampachodavaram, to Visakhapatnam Zoological Park to be kept for public viewing yesterday, but they refused to keep it," the officials said.

The snake was caught on last Saturday by a forest team after four hours of hectic efforts near a house in East Godavari district's agency area of Rampachodavaram.

"We are surprised to see king cobra of such a length in India. Generally these snakes are found in Australia," an official said, adding that they suspect that the carnivore sneaked into the residential area because of deforestation.

King cobra is the world's longest venomous snake. It is considered a dangerous snake and has a fearsome reputation in its range, although it typically avoids confrontation with humans.