A volunteer in Thailand was filmed capturing a king cobra with his bare hands.
A dramatic video from Thailand shows a volunteer worker catching a huge king cobra with his bare hands. According to news website Thaiger, locals in the southern Thai province of Krabi informed authorities after the snake slithered into a palm plantation and tried to hide in a septic tank.
The giant cobra reportedly measured 4.5 metres (nearly 14 feet) and weighed over 10 kilograms. It took Sutee Naewhaad, a volunteer with the Ao Nang Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, nearly 20 minutes to capture the snake. Mr Naewhaad, 40, first lured the snake out onto an open road and then proceeded to begin his attempt at catching it.
A video he shared on Facebook shows the king cobra resisting all attempts to be captured. At one point, the snake lunged forward with its jaw open, but Mr Naewhaad managed to move out of its way.
According to local reports, the snake catcher said that the king cobra was safely released in its natural habitat after being caught. He said that the snake had probably been looking for its mate, as another cobra had recently been killed by locals.
Mr Naewhaad also cautioned others against trying to catch snakes, saying that his skills came with years of training.
The king cobra is a venomous snake species, endemic to southern and south-east Asia. It is the world's longest venomous snake, with an average length of 10 to 13 feet. One of the largest king cobras on record (18 feet and 4 inches) was captured in Thailand, which has a sizeable population of snakes.
