Agra, May 29 (PTI) A nearly four-feet-long cobra was rescued by the Wildlife SOS from the Kamla Rawat Hospital in Runakta here today, officials said.

The snake is currently under observation and will soon be released into the wild, they said.

A spokesperson for the NGO Wildlife SOS said that a part of the hospital is currently undergoing renovation, and the workers spotted the reptile in a storage room inside the basement.

"Petrified at the sight of the venomous reptile, they rushed to alert the hospital authorities who in turn contacted Wildlife SOS for help," he said.

Sandeep Chaudhury, a representative of the hospital said, “The construction workers were moving plywood material from the basement when they came across the cobra. We have had similar encounters in the past as well.”

A trained snake rescuer from the NGO arrived on site with necessary equipment. Realising that it was being cornered, the cobra flared its hood but the Wildlife SOS rescuer carefully transferred it into a safe transport container, designed for the purpose.

The common cobra (naja naja) is one of the four venomous snake species to be found in the Indian subcontinent. They are revered in Indian mythology and culture and are listed under Schedule II of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. This species is mainly terrestrial but can also climb well when needed for foraging and roosting.

“Dealing with venomous snakes can be quite challenging but our team is trained to handle and carry out such sensitive operations. A cobra seldom bites and they usually give out a warning sign by displaying their hood. People get accidentally bitten only when they step on the snake or an untrained person attempts to catch or handle these snakes,” Kartick Satyanarayan, the Co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS, said.

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