Bronx Zoo shuts its Reptile House to search for missing Egyptian cobra

NEW YORK — A poisonous cobra has vanished from an enclosure outside public view at the Bronx Zoo, and its Reptile House remained closed Sunday as a precaution while zoo workers searched for the reptile.

Though the roughly 20-inch-long Egyptian cobra -- a highly venomous species of snake -- has been unaccounted for since Friday afternoon, zoo officials say they're confident it hasn't gone far and isn't in a public area. Its enclosure was in an isolation area not open to visitors.

"To understand the situation, you have to understand snakes," zoo Director Jim Breheny said in an email Sunday.

The animals seek out confined spaces, so this one has doubtless hidden in a place it feels safe, he said.

Once the snake gets hungry or thirsty enough to leave its hiding place, workers will have their best opportunity to recover it, Breheny said.

The missing cobra is an adolescent of its hooded species, which is believed to be the type of snake that was called an asp in antiquity. Cobra bites can be deadly if not treated properly, but the snakes aren't likely to attack people unless they feel threatened, according to a fact sheet on the San Diego Zoo's website.

Opened in 1899, the Bronx Zoo is run by the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society.

RELATED STORIES ABOUT ZOO ESCAPES:
• Zoo Atlanta to receive inspection after escape of a rattlesnake
• Review of Toledo Zoo incident in which elephant attacked keeper finds that keeper broke rules

-- Associated Press

Comments

[Janine Wells]

Can your writer (and editor) please check into the difference between poisonous and venomous? I am unaware of any poisonous reptiles, and I have been active in the herpetoculture community for nearly 20 years.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong--always willing to learn new things!

I certainly hope the cobra is found soon, for the sake of people and snake alike. If I were a keeper there, I would be wearing heavier clothing than usual right now. Just one reason I have never kept venomous reptiles.

[Jaydeegrrrl]

Cobras are venomous - not poisonous!

[Mikey Now]

let's get this straigh, "A poisonous cobra has vanished from an enclosure , a 20-inch-long , The animals seek out confined spaces, so this one has doubtless hidden in a place it feels safe", ( he said, how about a persons jacket or a purse? ) "Cobra bites can be deadly if not treated properly" no kidding....no

[Phineas]

The poisonous/venomous usage question may end up the way of alternative/alternate. Sadly, we have a habit of making even the wrong usage acceptable if it becomes 'popular' enough. I've been astonished how many times I've seen 'poisonous' used in the context of this escaped cobra story. As I once saw:

poisonous = bad if you bite it

venomous = bad if it bites you

But I think we should ask the source herself. I understand she's got a Twitter account...