Watch | 12-foot King Cobra found inside house compound in Karnataka; netizens react, 'scary but beautiful'

A massive 12-foot-long King Cobra was rescued from inside a house compoundearlier this week andreleased into the forest by wildlife officials in Karnataka. Ajay Giri, Field Director at Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), who rushed to spot with his team after the state forest department alerted him, shared the rescue video which soon became viral on Instagram and on other media platforms.

Sharing the viral video on Instagram, Ajay Giri said that village locals spotted a king cobra of 12 foot in length crossing a main road. The snake got disturbed by spectators and took refuge on a bush inside a compound of a house.

Giri said when the villagers inform about the snake, the owner of the house and the neighbours got nervous and frightened, they contacted the forest department which in turn informed ARRS about the situation.

“Owner of the house and neighbours got worried and informed in-charge forest department officials. ARRS was informed about the situation. Over the call we instructed locals about do’s and don’t’s and rushed to the location,” Giris aid his post.

Realizing the dangerous situation, Giri rushed to the spot along with his team, in the interim, he instructed the villagers about the dos and don’ts that should be followed in order to prevent a mishap involving the snake.

Once the team reached the spot, they swiftly brought the snake down from the bush with the help of a rod. Thereafter, the snake was put into a rescue bag and released into the wild.

“Over the call we instructed locals about dos and don’ts and rushed to the location. After the inspection, we decided to bag the snake. The snake was gently bagged. We conducted onsite awareness program for locals, distributed informative materials. Later the snake was released in to the wild in the presence of locals and in-charge forest department officials,” Giri added to his post.

The rescue video has amassed much praise online, with many commending the team for their gentle and compassionate handling of the situation. Since posting, the viral video has garnered 39,254 likes on Instagram, 810.3K Views, and 7.8K likes on X.

The video was also reposted on X by IFS officer Susanta Nanda.

Social Media reactions

“What a beautiful king!!!!!Awwwwww stunning” reacted an Insta user.

Magnificent King! 🙏🏼 Kudos for a good rescue and returning it to a safe place . 🙌🏼❤️ another Insta user reacted.

“So professionally done as compared to so many videos online,” wrote a user X.

“Wow, he/she was beautiful, scary but beautiful” another X user reacted.

"So good to see that it was "rescued & released safely"🙏-so often we see videos of leopards in our region coming in human habitation and people chasing & beating the leopard with sticks to scare it away," another X user reacted.