Khaira (Balasore): A massive 15-foot-long king cobra was rescued from the foothills of the Sarisua hill range in the Kupari area under Khaira block of Odisha's Balasore district on Thursday, triggering panic among local residents.

According to reports, the longest venomous snake was first spotted near the roadside at Badabil village under Bageipur Panchayat early in the morning. Villagers alleged that the snake aggressively chased people passing through the area, creating fear in the locality.

15-ft king cobra rescued near village road in Khaira area in Odisha's Balasore district pic.twitter.com/T2dt1F93WQ

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On receiving information, Bageipur Samiti representative Shashikant Behera reached the spot and managed to keep the king cobra away from the crowd by carefully using a water pipe, while simultaneously alerting the Kupari Forest Range officials.

Quick action by locals and Forest Team saves king cobra

Acting promptly, Kupari Forester Basanta Kumar Jena, with assistance from snake rescuer MD Arif Mirza of Bhadrak district, safely captured the giant serpent from the human habitation area. The king cobra was later released into the nearby Sarisua forest after following necessary safety measures.

Forest officials said that sightings of such large king cobras are extremely rare and appealed to people not to harm wild animals or reptiles if they enter residential areas. Instead, residents have been urged to immediately inform the Forest Department or trained wildlife rescuers to ensure both human safety and wildlife conservation.

Notably, king cobra is officially classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. They prefer streams in dense or open forest, bamboo thickets, adjacent agricultural areas and dense mangrove swamps. King cobra feeds on snakes including cobras.