Courier Finds 4 Meter Long King Cobra in Shipping Package
Wildlife conservation officers are seeking to press charges against a person who shipped a 4-meter king cobra in a package via a courier service.
Staff at the courier service made a call to rescue workers after seeing a shipping box moving by itself and hearing a hissing sound.
The package was in the process of being sorted and sent to its destination. The label said to keep it out of the sun, it was labeled “food concentrate.”
In the sunlight, the package began to move, prompting the staff to alert rescuers who arrived and opened the package to find the king cobra inside, much to their horror.
The incident was videotaped by the courier staff.
When the rescue workers opened the shipping box they found a cloth bag with the live 4-meter king cobra inside. Some courier employees screamed in fear when they saw the king cobra.
Everyone at the courier company was shocked and couldn’t believe someone would ship a live snake.
The snake was turned over to wildlife officials at the national parks department.
King Cobra Destined for Northeast
The courier company said the recipient was an emergency officer based in northern Thailand’s Phitsanulok province. The rare king cobra was destined for a village in the Nam Phong district of Khon Kaen in northeastern, Thailand.
A rescuer who handled the snake posted on his Facebook page “Nev Marley” that the sender denied he owned the snake. He said he was clueless about the contents of the package, and that he was merely asked to send it by the snake’s owner.
Meanwhile, Pol Col Preecha Kengsarikij, from the Muang Khon Kaen police station, said the snake owner lived in Ban Ped of Muang district.
He was summoned to the police station to face charges of possessing wild animals or protected species in violation of the Protected Wildlife Animals Act.
There is a maximum fine of 500,000 baht or a maximum jail term of up to five years for this offense. Parks officials were meeting with police to ask them to file charges.
