Four-Meter King Cobra Wrestled from Sewer Drain in Krabi

A four-metre king cobra was pulled from a sewer in the southern province of Krabi in an hour-long operation, a rescue foundation said Tuesday. Describing the reptile as one of the largest they had ever captured.

Footage of the daring capture showed a man chasing the cobra — the world’s longest venomous snake — into a dark and cramped drainage pipe.

The cobra splashed around in water and tried to slither back into the pipe, but was pulled out by the tail after multiple attempts.

A security guard on the housing estate where it was found first alerted the rescue group on Sunday.

“Seven rescue workers, including me, went there,” said Kritkamon Kanghae, 26, adding that the estate was built on a plot that was once jungle.

Mr Kritkamon said the snake was more than four meters long, weighed 15 kilos. It was the third-largest they had found.

The King Cobra later released into the Wild

Thailand is teeming with reptiles, and several species of cobra are native to the country.

References to the deadly snake fill folklore.

The main international airport was built on an area that used to be called “Cobra’s Swamp”.

Snakes have also become a headache for residents in Bangkok according to the Bangkok Post. The fire department is sent out to respond to calls from alarmed residents.

Authorities are reluctant to get rid of the reptiles because they help to control a rat population.

King cobras, however, mainly feed on other snakes — particularly the rat snake.