King cobra rescued from Narasipuram
The king cobra that was rescued at Narasipuram near Coimbatore on Friday.
It was released in a natural habitat enroute Siruvani
The Forest Department on Friday released a female king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) in a new habitat after it was caught twice from a village near Narasipuram of Coimbatore district.Officials said the 13-foot-long king cobra was released in a natural habitat on the way to Siruvani, seven km away from where it was caught. The snake was found inside a shed in an agricultural field at Narasipuram on Friday. After alerted by villagers, Pooluvapattu forest range officer Arokiasamy contacted snake handler K. Santhosh Kumar to rescue the snake.Mr. Kumar had rescued the snake from the same village and released it in a forest area near Vaidehi Falls on June 14. “As the snake strayed into the village again, it was released in another natural habitat on the way to Siruvani based on directions from the District Forest Officer,” said Mr. Arokiaraj. Mr. Kumar had also caught two other king cobras from Narasipuram – a 16-foot-long male snake in November 2019 and a 14-foot-long female snake in April this year. Apart from disturbances in habitats caused by human interventions, presence of rat snakes in agricultural fields is also said to force king cobras to stray into villages.Rat snake is one of the favourite meals of king cobras, diet of which mostly constitutes other snakes.