The scene witnessed by a family in Delhi’s Sarita Vihar seemed to have been lifted straight from a thriller movie as much to their shock they found a 5-foot-long venomous Indian Cobra wriggling inside a duffel bag in their house! Fearing for their safety, the family immediately informed Wildlife SOS.

On reaching the house located in Madanpur Khadar village, the NGO’s Rapid Response Unit found the snake in a foul mood and flaring its hood from inside the bag. Exercising extreme caution, the highly venomous snake was safely removed from the house and put into a transport carrier, much to the family’s relief.

In another incident, the NGO rescued a Monitor Lizard which had entered a building construction site in Sector 132 Noida.  It was spotted by one of the employees who called Wildlife SOS. The creature was rescued and released later in the wild.

While a 5-foot-long Black-headed Royal Snake was removed from a garbage dump near Delhi Jal Board, an Indian Rat Snake was safely taken off from the campus of Shiv Nadar University in Noida.

Talking about these rescues, Wasim Akram, Deputy Director-Special Projects, Wildlife SOS said: “Wildlife SOS’ 24-hour rescue helpline receives regular calls from people reporting reptile sightings in buildings, parks, college premises and people’s homes. Most of them are for Monitor Lizards and snakes, and the primary reasons behind their frequent occurrence are rapid urbanisation, increase in construction work, shrinking habitats and loss of natural prey base.”

Also read: Deadly Krait snake creeps into swimming pool at Delhi farmhouse to escape summer heat