For six days, the fire department and experts in the North Rhine-Westphalian Herne were in action and were looking for a Monokelkobra. Under a step at a cellar entrance, the forces finally discovered the animal - and finally caught it safely again on Friday.
The highly poisonous cobra has now been lodged until further notice with a reptile expert. "The snake is well," said a city spokeswoman. "She probably had the most stressful day of her life."
With the end of the search, the dispute over the responsibility for the action should begin. The Ruhr city wants to determine the cause of the six-day operation. The authorities assume that the cobra came from the apartment of a tenant who held more than 20 snakes there.
The young man is said to have traded with the reptiles - and kept them in his apartment. He denies, however, that the Auschexte Monokelkobra came from its existence, said a spokesman for the city administration. In the cellar of the man had been found a few days ago, a snake skin that matched the wanted animal.
A bite of the Asia-based Monokelkobra can be life-threatening. For safety reasons, therefore, an antidote was ready in the University of Dusseldorf.
Collin Bleck / DPA
Mobile phone photo of the escaped cobra in the stairwell
Herne hopes to find traces of the captured snake in the apartment. Then it could be proved that she was kept in the apartment, the spokesman said. "These investigations will certainly take some time."
"Renounced his property over the city"
The exact cost of the search is not yet known. "We can not make a mark on it by Monday evening." Firefighters and reptile experts had searched with some unusual means such as flour and tape for the snake. In the meantime, it had also been considered to kill the animal with gas. Even some residents had incurred costs because they had to move out in the meantime because of the cobra.
A resident had discovered the poisonous snake with an estimated length of about 1.60 meters about a week ago in the stairwell of an apartment building. The 30 residents had to leave their apartments in the meantime. The snake was then startled during mowing behind the house and could be captured.
Marcel Kusch / dpa
Affected house in Herne: 22 queues in the apartment
The city of Herne has brought a total of 22 queues from the tenant's apartment. These animals were also found in reptile experts, they no longer belonged to the man. "He has relinquished his property to the city," said the spokeswoman. The man had more and other snakes than officially reported.
The spectacular search for the dangerous animal has sparked a debate over stricter requirements for the keeping of venomous animals such as snakes or scorpions. NRW Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU) said: "Personally, I am against the attitude of very dangerous species in homes or apartments." There are also demands for a corresponding law from the SPD and the Greens. So far, there are hardly any requirements for the keeping of wild animals in private households in North Rhine-Westphalia, as long as species protection rules are met.
