White Cobra That Roamed Thousand Oaks Makes Debut At San Diego Zoo
SAN DIEGO (CBSLA.com) — The venomous white monocled cobra that spent several days roaming a Thousand Oaks neighborhood a few months ago made its debut Tuesday at the San Diego Zoo.
Zoo officials say the female snake was initially a bit shy, but didn't waste too much time before exploring her new habitat filled with mulch, live plants and rock ledges.
"This morning was the first time the cobra was placed in her new home at the Reptile House," said Rachael Walton, a keeper at San Diego Zoo, in a statement. "We expect it may take her a few weeks to get used to her new surroundings. Being a cobra, she likes to hide, so visitors to the zoo may want to look closely under the rock ledge or in the planter bank in her enclosure to get a good glimpse of her."
The cobra, estimated to be 2 years old, measures just over four feet long and is leucistic rather than albino, meaning she has reduced pigementation, making her mostly white rather than the specis' usual brown and beige, zoo officials said.
Monocled cobras, when threatened, raise their body, spread their impressive hood, usually hiss and strike in an attempt to bite and defend themselves and can inject a toxin that can be fatal. Cobras are not a threatened species, but are illegal to own in California without a permit.
The snake arrived at the San Diego Zoo on Sept. 5 and underwent a 90-day mandatory quarantine.
Zoo officials say the cobra eluded Los Angeles County Animal Control officers for four days before she was caught and sent to the Los Angeles Zoo. The San Diego Zoo was later asked to take the cobra because it is one of two zoological facilities in the country with the proper anti-venom for the species, officials said.
Due to public interest in the wayward cobra, whose adventures spawned at least five Twitter accounts, the San Diego Zoo has invited the public to vote on names for the animal. The cobra's keepers came up with several names indicative of the snake's native region of Southeast Asia: Adhira (lightning), Sapheda (white), Krima (cream), Cini (sugar), Moti (pearl) and Sundara (beautiful).
Voting at bit.ly/whitecobra ends at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31. The chosen name will be announced on the San Diego Zoo's Facebook page.
