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Forest minister Subodh Uniyal has ordered a ‘probe’ into the missing King Cobra that was housed in Dehradun Zoo since early 2020
The deadliest snake ‘King Cobra’ that went missing from the Dehradun Zoo in July this year has been spotted in Indore Zoo in Madhya Pradesh. Interestingly, officials have failed to provide any documentation related to the transfer of the reptile. Forest minister Subodh Uniyal has ordered a ‘probe’ into the missing King Cobra that was housed in Dehradun Zoo since early 2020.
“I have asked chief wildlife warden Samir Sinha to probe how a King Cobra traveled 1100 kilometers on its own all the way to Indore,” said forest minister Subodh Uniyal to News18. Wildlife Warden Sinha has further instructed the Zoo director to furnish a detailed report.
On being asked, ranger Mohan Rawat posted at Dehradun Zoo said the Cobra was rescued and was released into the woods in July. He claimed he had ‘papers’ of the reptile’s release but failed to show to support his claim.
The missing case of the deadliest reptile was revealed after News18 investigated a tip-off. Reenu Paul, an animal activist ‘smell rat’ in the missing case of the King Cobra listed ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN red list of threatened species.
“How can a reptile go missing like this? It seems something is wrong in the system” she said.
The reports that appeared in the Indore media suggested that King Cobra arrived in Indore from Dehradun under an animal exchange program. The Times of India had reported on July 28 this year, quoting Zoo director Dr. Uttam Yadav that (the big snake) “has been brought from Dehradun as part of the animal exchange program of the Central Zoo Authority of India”.
Nonetheless, this remains a mystery that officials in Uttarakhand ordered the ‘exchange of reptiles’ without any documentation or ‘know-how’ of the senior officials.
(With inputs from Sunil Navprabhat)
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