A zoo keeper at the Thiruvananthapuram died after being bitten by a king cobra. The tragic incident took place on Monday noon while he was cleaning a cage where reptiles were kept.
Harshad A S, a 45-year-old zoo keeper hailing from Kattakada in the district, was earlier in the news for staging a protest inside a snake's cage demanding regularisation of his job. The Thiruvananthapuram zoo's reptile house is known for various varieties of snakes, including Anaconda.
According to the zoo authorities, in the CCTV video footage of the reptile house of the zoo, Harshad could be seen cleaning the king cobra's cage after shifting the reptiles to the nearby temporary cage, where snakes are kept while the main cage is being cleaned. Harshad could be also seen coming out of the main cage.
Around 1 pm, other zoo keepers later found Harshad lying unconscious in the reptile house with snake bite mark on his hand. It was suspected that he could have suffered the bite while trying to shift the snakes from the temporary cage to the main cage. CCTV footage was not there at the temporary cage and hence the actual reason could not be ascertained.
Though Harshad was rushed to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital, he was pronounced dead.
Harshad was working as zoo keeper for over 15 years. Several years back he staged a protest by entering king cobra's cage owing to a delay in regularising his job. His job was later regularised.