VietNamNet Bridge – A King Cobra snake, caught days ago in Dong Thap province by a farmer, has not been fed for several days as the local police have no idea how to take care of it.

The snake, which weighs 6.3 kilos and is 3.1 meters long, was found by Nguyen Thanh Binh, in a rice field under fertilizer bags.

As the locals and forest rangers could not agree on what to do with the snake, the commune police were left to care of it.

Police in Phu Duc Commune said that a group of young men had attacked the snake with sticks and canes, knocking it unconscious. The snake was then handed over to the police.

The Tam Nong – Tan Hong District’s forest ranger unit in Dong Thap province confirmed on October 10 that it was following necessary procedures to handle wild animals.

Forest rangers confirmed that the snake is a King Cobra found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia. It is known as the world's longest venomous snake.

Nguyen Hong Vu, head of the commune police, said on October 12 that hundreds of people had flocked to the office to see the snake, whose mouth has been muzzled.

“The forest rangers said this is a King Cobra, a species named in the Red Book. If this is true, its venom is dangerous and deadly. We have to take care of it all day long,” Vu said.

Vu said the police were also concerned that the snake could be stolen, or that it might escape and enter residential quarters of the commune.

The people who brought the snake to the police had asked for a payment of VND1 million.

The forest rangers said the King Cobra snake was a wild and rare animal species, and that hunting of it was prohibited.

As the two sides could not come to any agreement on payment, the people asked the police to return it so that it could be killed. But the police will continue to keep it until it is returned to the wild.  

Dat Viet