Rare 14-foot king cobra rescued from Rajasthan dies in city zoo

A 14-foot-long king cobra, which was received by the Delhi zoo last year from Rajasthan, has died of age-related illnesses. The rare species was the first in the National Zoological Park after 10 years and was the only king cobra.

The Rajasthan forest department had seized the snake from a resident of Kota district, who was trying to sell the reptile. The court had then ordered that the snake to be given to a zoo.

“We lost the king cobra a few months ago. Wildlife SOS in Kota, Rajasthan, had in 2015 handed over the serpent to us. It was not keeping well since several months,” zoo curator Riyaz Khan said.

“The animal died of age-related illness,” he added.

The snake weighed 7 kg and was between 25 and 30 years old.

A zoo staffer, who had taken care of the animal, said the reptile was quite inactive when it was brought to the zoo but had started picking up on its movements later.

The incident comes close on the heels of a spate of deaths of spotted deers at the Delhi zoo earlier this year. The animal is listed as vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of endangered animals.