The fugitive cobra returns to its cage and is “under house arrest”

A week after escaping from a Swedish zoo, a “king cobra” snake returned to its cage on Sunday, after successfully dodging searches for days.

The Skansen Zoo said in a statement that it had caught the cobra, knowing that it had to close the reptile section pending the capture of the escaped snake.

Escape and return details

• A few days after arriving at the site, the snake named “Sir Fez” (Mr. Yellow), escaped on Saturday 22 October through a light in its basin.

• According to the management of the zoo, which has without problems hosted king cobras for about 15 years, energy-saving lamps were finally installed to replace the old ones that were much hotter than what was bothering the reptiles.

• “Sir Fez” thwarted attempts to catch him, which earned him the nickname “Houdini”, after the famous American stealth star Harry Houdini, who was known for his skill in ridding himself of chains and cages.

• To track him down, the staff in the Reptile Division sprayed meticulously and set sticky traps, to no avail.

• The zoo then installed special cameras and portable x-ray machines, on loan from Swedish customs.

• The journey of capturing the King Cobra was nearing the end, on Friday, after it was spotted in an interior wall.

• The zoo explained that “the feat Houdini changed his position repeatedly when we opened several holes to catch him.”

• During Saturday night, it seems that the cobra decided to put an end to the escape situation, and according to the zoo, it “came down and crawled back to its safe, warm hole.”

• The park managed to reopen the reptile section to the public, but the cobra was put “under house arrest” for observation, according to the administration, and visitors won’t be able to see it until Monday.