6.5-foot cobra at Yamuna Bank depot

A Wildlife SOS team rescued an over six-foot cobra blocking the gate to an office complex in Delhi’s Yamuna Bank depot on Monday.

“People headed to the technical unit office building complex at the Yamuna Bank depot on Monday morning were in for a big surprise. A large black snake was coiled in front of the complex gate,’’ said Wildlife SOS co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan.

He said the size of the snake caused panic, and people began shouting and trying to scare away the snake. The terrified reptile reared its head and flared its hood, leaving no doubt among the bystanders that it was a cobra, a little more than 6.5 feet in length. The enormous reptile attempted to get away, but found its escape route blocked. Cornered, it retreated into a small gap in the wall near the gate.

Common cobras are venomous, but will not attack humans being without provocation. Sometimes, the size of a reptile coupled with misconceptions about snakes cause people to panic unnecessarily upon spotting one.

A Wildlife SOS rapid response unit member said: “We received a call about a large cobra at the Yamuna Bank depot. A large crowd had gathered and the terrified snake had slunk into the nearest hiding space. After pacifying the crowd, we rescued the snake and brought it the Wildlife SOS Rescue centre for observation.”

Jyoti, who works in the area and called up Wildlife SOS, said snakes are spotted once in a while in the area, but this one was much bigger and hence caused some panic. However, once the Wildlife SOS team arrived, the rescue was carried out quickly and effectively.

The snake was found to be healthy and will be released into its natural habitat shortly.