King cobra rescued in S Goa, released in Netravali sanctuary

Edited... emailed to Nida
Times News Network
240 words + plus pics
Panaji: A 3.8m-long king cobra, weighing nearly 15 kg, was rescued recently from a residential area in the south Goa village of Vichundrem. The snake was found in the backyard of a resident’s house, curled up near the firewood storage area. The forest department later released the reptile in the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary.
The rescue squad received the call at around 4.30pm on Thursday from the house of a daily wage labourer. It took them about 30 minutes to capture the snake.
“No harm was inflicted to human life or cattle,” Bipin Phaldesai, who carried out the rescue mission, said.
Forest officials have attributed the sudden appearance of the king cobra in a residential area to the mating season.
“The onset of the monsoon season coincides with the breeding season for snakes and we usually get many snake rescue calls. The king cobra feeds on snakes and doesn’t usually prey on other animals. So, it is unlikely that it entered the residential area in search of food. It’s only rat snakes that enter the human habitation looking for rodents,” Phaldesai said.
The snake was kept in the rescue squad’s care for a day following which it was released on Friday. “King cobras prefer to live close to water bodies. Keeping that in mind, we released it in the forest near a perennial water source,” he said.