The highly venomous Egyptian cobra that went missing from the Bronx Zoo in New York last week has been found alive and well, coiled up in a dark corner of the zoo’s reptile house.
The 60cm (24in) snake was found about 60m (200ft) from where it had escaped from a holding cage outside the exhibit into a space described by officials as a labyrinth of pipes and equipment.
Lured with wood shavings reeking of mice and rats, the cobra was trapped in a corner of the reptile house, its home since it arrived at the zoo in February.
“As you can imagine, we are delighted to report that the snake has been found alive and well,” said Jim Breheny, the zoo director.
While the snake — believed to be female and nicknamed “Cobra-dini” — appeared to have not moved very far from where it went missing, it quickly became a celebrity. According to a Twitter account set up on the reptile’s behalf, it has been enjoying the sights of New York City for the past seven days.
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Almost 200,00 people have followed the postings of the @BronxZoosCobra twitter account — the bio of which reads “Egyptian cobra out on the town” — since it was set up last weekend.
Posting from various trendy sights and major tourist attractions, @BronxZoosCobra managed to squeeze in a few last sights before its capture was announced by the zoo.
“If you see a bag of peanuts inexplicably moving along the ground at Yankee Stadium today, just ignore it. It’s probably nothing,” reads the last tweet posted on Thursday afternoon, on the opening day of the baseball season.
“Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This is gonna be hilarious!” another read.
Among other amusing tweets: “Does anyone know if the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle sells organic mice?” “Getting my morning coffee at the Mudtruck. Don’t even talk to me until I’ve had my morning coffee. Seriously, don’t. I’m venomous”. “Snake accessible! RT @TheEllenShow Hey @BronxZoosCobra check the Guggenheim They’ve a great Kandinsky exhibit, also don’t have any stairs”. “Taking the Sex and the City Tour!!! I’m totally a SSSamantha”. “”Leaving Wall Street. These guys make my skin crawl.”
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The snake has even been responding to her followers. When asked about the revolution in Egypt, she tweeted, “Obviously I’m a big fan of freedom!”
When asked to comment on the capture of the snake, the person running the Twitter account sent an e-mail to AP: “Oh, this isn’t over. They have only awakened the Bronx Zoo’s Cobra nation.”
Mr Breheny said the “lighthearted” tone of the Twitter spoof was a sign that most people were confident in the Bronx Zoo workers’ skills at recapturing the reptile.
He said the snake never left the reptile house and had been crawling around in an off-exhibit area. He said the zoo will investigate how the snake escaped and evaluate its protocols to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The snake is now “resting comfortably and secure” and was being assessed to make sure it was in good condition. Mr Breheny said it had been placed in the same area as the other venomous snakes.
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The zoo plans to exhibit the cobra once it has been checked and plans to hold a naming contest for the celebrity snake.