In a rare incident a venomous Viper snake travelled from India to England recently in a shipping container. The South Essex Wildlife Hospital in England mentioned about the incident in a Facebook post.
As per the Facebook post the hospital authorities got a call to capture a stowaway snake from a shipping container from India. Since the snake was identified as a saw scaled viper which of course is venomous and hence dangerous, a reptile expert along with a vet were assigned with the task to collect the reptile before someone gets bitten by it.
Accordingly, reptile expert Steve and Tom the vet collected the viper which was by then was very agitated and aggressive.
The viper was collected and kept with utmost precaution and care maintaining safety norms. It was locked in a box and kept in a sealed room with warning signs.
The hospital authority also felt sad as they could not allow freedom to the snake or get it back home.
The facebook post said, “In addition to many British wildlife species coming in today we also had a call about a critter that is definitely not in the country it should have been. We had a call regarding a stowaway snake that had arrived in a shipping container from India. As it was identified as a saw scaled viper and having had one before we understood fully the gravity of just how dangerous these reptiles are, they are way up there in the top few most deadly snakes (it is believed to have killed more people than all the other species combined) The authorities that had already been contacted were not responding to the situation so our reptile expert Steve and Tom the vet collected the very agitated and aggressive animal before someone was likely killed. It is now in a locked box in a sealed room (Tom taped up the door) with warning signs, awaiting collection from an appropriate facility that sue our manager has contacted. We are glad not to have to deal with venomous creatures too often but feel sad for the snake that we can’t give it is freedom and get it back home.
Ms Kalinga