Venomous snake on the loose at Bronx Zoo

August 2024 · 3 minute read

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Don’t worry, this guy doesn’t bite — much.

A venomous, tree-climbing 3-foot mangrove snake is on the loose after it escaped its enclosure at the Bronx Zoo Tuesday night — but officials there have kept the area open with just one little sign downplaying the danger.

A letter-sized sign placed next to the ticket office for Jungle World Wednesday reads: “Dear visitors, a 3 and a half foot long mangrove snake is missing from its exhibit in Jungle World. They are mildly venomous, but not dangerous to people.”

“Mangrove snakes are a shy, arboreal species that are active at night. There is little chance of seeing or coming in contact with this snake due to its timid, secretive nature but if you see it, please notify a staff person,” it continues.

There have been no known mangrove snake fatalities, although their venom can cause painful swelling and discoloration of the skin, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.

But zoo-goers hardly got a chance to decide whether they wanted to risk that fate Wednesday.

Most people lining up to enter the exhibit failed to notice the small sign and weren’t verbally warned while paying $6 for a ticket — and many said they wouldn’t have gone in if they knew a snake was on the lam inside.

“It’s irresponsible of them,” said Lucia Crespo, 29, a teacher who was visiting with her young son. “It’s scary and I have a 3-year-old son. Now I’m feeling terrified … I don’t like snakes at all.”

Queens man Engelbert Balboa, 33, was equally terrified.

“I’m scared. It can bite you, it can harm you. I wouldn’t go in there if I knew,” he said. “To think I went in there with my son and my mother and my sister.”

Most of the zoo’s snakes — including a king cobra and an anaconda — live in a separate World of Reptiles exhibit, but the tree-dwelling Timor python and mangrove snakes live in separate glass cases in Jungle World to reflect their native southeast Asian habitat.

Jungle World is otherwise only surrounded by a bamboo fence.

Two zoo employees with flashlights were seen scouring the area near where the snake went missing Wednesday — but wouldn’t explain how the serpent escaped.

One employee explained only that it somehow “slithered out.”

“They are very smart, you know,” he said.

Workers said a night crew would be dispatched to continue searching.

Asked if it was safe for people to be walking around, he dismissively replied: “If it wasn’t safe do you think I would be standing here?”

This is not the first time the Bronx Zoo has lost a snake. A deadly Egyptian Cobra escaped in 2011 — and wasn’t found for a week.

The zoo has already been in hot water this year over the treatment of its female elephant Happy, who has lived alone at the Bronx Zoo for 13 years.

More than 100 protesters showed up at the zoo in June, demanding that Happy be sent to an animal sanctuary where she can live happily with other elephants.

But zoo director Jim Breheny insisted Happy was content, saying, “She is quite content and evaluated frequently by the people who know her best.”

Mangrove snakes are nocturnal snakes native to southeast Asia and eat small mammals including birds and rats, as well as reptiles including lizards and other snakes.

The Bronx Zoo did not immediately return a request for comment.

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