28-05-2025
APM team snares 12-ft-long king cobra in bathroom of unoccupied Selangau PPRT house
Handout photo shows APM personnel with the captured king cobra.
SELANGAU (May 28): A king cobra measuring 3.65 metres long (12 feet) and weighing 8kg was captured inside an unoccupied Hardcore Poor Housing Project (PPRT) unit at Rumah Tandang in Dijih here this morning, after having first been spotted last week.
Selangau Civil Defence Force (APM) officer Luke Douglas Dongum said they received a call at 8.15am from the longhouse chief that the reptile had made its way into the bathroom of the unit.
'A team was immediately dispatched to the location, arriving 21 minutes later. Upon entering the bathroom, APM personnel took about 30 minutes to capture the cobra,' he said in a statement.
He said the snake was later transported far away from populated areas and released back into the wild.
According to Luke, the residents informed the APM team that they had spotted the same cobra in the vicinity of the PPRT unit last week, but that it quickly disappeared when they tried to catch it.
He advised those living in rural areas or adjacent to jungles to remain cautious and avoid direct encounters with dangerous wildlife, especially venomous snakes.
'Report any sighting to the relevant authorities. Do not attempt to deal with such animals without proper training or equipment,' he said.
King cobras (Ophiophagus hannah), the world's longest venomous snakes and among the heaviest, have been listed as 'Vulnerable' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 2010.
In Sarawak, the king cobra is listed as a protected animal under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998. APM king cobra Selangau snake snare
