Zoo on lockdown as deadly king cobra named Sir Hiss makes ‘Houdini escape’
A DEADLY snake has forced a zoo into lockdown after escaping from its cage.
King cobra Sir Hiss, renamed Houdini after its daring dash for freedom, managed to slither away from its enclosure at Skansen Zoo in Stockholm, Sweden.
The reptile had arrived at the zoo just days before disappearing on Saturday through a lamp fixture in a terrarium.
Bosses have been forced to partially shut down the zoo as staff continue to search for the venomous vagrant.
Workers have spread out flour to try and track the fugitive and sticky traps have been set up.
They have also brought in special cameras designed to inspect sewage pipes.
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It is feared the reptile could be hiding somewhere in the zoo’s ceiling.
The snake has now been renamed Houdini after the famed escape artist, Jonas Wahlstrom, director of the Skansen Aquarium, said.
Wahlstrom told AFP the terrarium has housed king cobras for about 15 years, but it only took the new tenant a few days to find a way out.
He joked: “It turned out to be clever.”
Wahlstrom explained staff had recently replaced the lamp at the top of the enclosure with a low-energy bulb.
He added: “The old light was so hot that no snake wanted to get close.
“But now it’s not hot at all and the new king cobra discovered this and wedged its head in between the lightbulb and the light fixture and managed to push itself out.”
Wahlstrom said there was no danger of it escaping outside.
He said: “It won’t get out, but hypothetically it’s also so cold outside that it would doze off immediately.
The zoo chief also stressed that king cobras are typically quite calm and unlikely to attack.
King cobras, originally from South and Southeast Asia, are the world’s longest venomous snake, growing up to 18 feet long.
They mainly prey on other snakes but their bites can be fatal to humans if untreated.
It comes after a cheeky chimp went on the run after escaping from a Ukraine zoo.
Footage filmed in the besieged city of Kharkiv shows the female primate Chichi wandering through the streets.
Staff from the zoo in Ukraine‘s second city try in vain to persuade Chichi to return home after she was spotted strolling in a nearby park.
After others try to win her trust with sweet treats, and a blonde woman was spotted kneeling down and talking to the escaped ape.
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But when it started to rain, the homesick chimp suddenly ran over to her keeper and embraced her.
The woman then gave her yellow raincoat to Chichi, who obligingly stretched her arms through the sleeves.