A venomous king cobra which escaped from its home in a Swedish zoo six days ago has been located inside the building where its terrarium is located but has not yet been recaptured, the park said Friday.
The deadly snake escaped on Saturday via a light fixture in the ceiling of its glass enclosure at the Skansen Aquarium, part of the zoo on Stockholm’s Djurgarden island. Park guests who were inside the building where the snakes are located were evacuated.
The zoo later assessed that there was no general risk for employees or guests and the rest of the zoo remained open.
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The park said it had located the reptile overnight in a confined space near its terrarium and staff were now working to retrieve it.
If the snake had gotten out of the building, it would not have survived the cold climate, the park said.
The snake’s official name is Sir Vass (Sir Hiss), but since its escape has been nicknamed Houdini, after the escape artist who thwarted every attempt to cage him. The reptile had just moved into the terrarium.
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King cobras can be up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) long and mainly live in India, southeast Asia, in Indonesia and the Philippines.
The zoo is home to about 200 exotic species including fish, corals, crocodiles, turtles, lizards, snakes, naked mole-rats, marmosets, golden lion tamarins, baboons, lemurs, spiders and parrots.
