After a 10-year-long gap, the visitors to the National Zoological Park on Sunday finally got to catch the first glimpse of 14-foot-long King Cobra. This new addition to the Delhi Zoo doubled the footfall this weekend and when The Pioneer paid a visit, it found inquisitive spectators making a beeline to steal a glance at the glass enclosure of this olive brown and black reptile.
He is around 30 years old and weighs seven kilograms, said zoo officials. The deadly reptile was brought to the zoo in the last week of April. “King Cobra had been in quarantine ever since it was handed over by the Rajasthan Forest department and he was brought out for public view on Saturday,” said Delhi Zoo curator Riaz Ahmed Khan, adding that the snake had shed its skin and passed the sensitive phase where it was at risk of getting wounded. “The faecal samples, tests for ticks, mites and lice have been done and the snake is healthy. It has no external or internal parasites,” he added.
Currently, his diet comprises just boneless chicken, however, “in the coming days, King Cobra will be given red snakes, lizards - procured from the field,” said Khan, adding that lethal snake’s venom is a powerful neurotoxin (affecting the central nervous system) and is capable of delivering a fatal bite.
Rakesh, who came to see King Cobra with his four children, said, “My kids have never seen a snake in their life and frankly, I am seeing such a giant snake live for the first time too. It’s completely worth our money”.
The Rajasthan Forest Department had seized the reptile from a resident of Kota district, who was trying to sell the reptile. The court had then ordered that the snake be sent to a zoo. According to experts, India has 216 species of snakes, out of which 53 are poisonous but their bites are curable. The other four, which includes King Cobra, are highly dangerous and their bites cannot be cured. Krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper also have a fatal bite.