SINGAPORE - Students and staff at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) were stunned by the rare sight of two snakes locked in battle on a road at the school on Thursday afternoon.
One snake, which looked to be more than two metres long, was locked in the deadly embrace of another, photographs posted on Facebook showed.
The photos on the Facebook page of the NTU Graduate Student Council had been shared close to 500 times by Thursday evening.
The shots were taken by graduate student Abhishek Ambede, 25, who said that many of those in the Research Techno Plaza, where he works, caught the snakes wrestling on the road near their building.
He estimated that the longer snake was "10 to 12 feet" in length, or about 3.6m long.
After the photos went viral, sources on the Internet identified the longer snake as a king cobra - which is extremely venomous. The snake wrapped around it is thought to be a reticulated python.
The python was shorter, at about five to six feet, Mr Ambede said.
The PhD student in the school of computer engineering in NTU, said this was the first time they have seen or even heard of a cobra on campus.
At least 20 to 30 people were gathered to watch the fight, and some tried to take photos up close, not realising that one of the snakes was venomous, he told The Straits Times.
He took his photos from more than four metres away, with a zoom lens, he said.
After at least 15 to 20 minutes of wrestling, the cobra, which tends to avoid humans, slid away into the bushes.
"Snakes can't hear, but it could have sensed there were many people from the vibrations," he said.
NTU's pest control officers captured the python, which seemed exhausted after its struggle with the cobra, and was slithering sluggishly on the road.
The cobra made another appearance at 4pm, Mr Ambede said, and both the pest controllers and Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) were alerted.
However, the shy reptile managed to slip away again.
While the pest control team in NTU is on the look out for the snake, Mr Ambede was concerned that joggers may unwittingly come across the cobra.
While it is a "timid" snake, "if by mistake someone steps on it, it may attack", he said.
But he stressed that NTU lies in a forested area and he would like to see "animals and people can co-exist peacefully with each other".
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/python-versus-king-cobra-in-a-battle-at-ntu-campus#xtor=CS1-10
One snake, which looked to be more than two metres long, was locked in the deadly embrace of another, photographs posted on Facebook showed.
The photos on the Facebook page of the NTU Graduate Student Council had been shared close to 500 times by Thursday evening.
The shots were taken by graduate student Abhishek Ambede, 25, who said that many of those in the Research Techno Plaza, where he works, caught the snakes wrestling on the road near their building.
He estimated that the longer snake was "10 to 12 feet" in length, or about 3.6m long.
After the photos went viral, sources on the Internet identified the longer snake as a king cobra - which is extremely venomous. The snake wrapped around it is thought to be a reticulated python.
The python was shorter, at about five to six feet, Mr Ambede said.
The PhD student in the school of computer engineering in NTU, said this was the first time they have seen or even heard of a cobra on campus.
At least 20 to 30 people were gathered to watch the fight, and some tried to take photos up close, not realising that one of the snakes was venomous, he told The Straits Times.
He took his photos from more than four metres away, with a zoom lens, he said.
After at least 15 to 20 minutes of wrestling, the cobra, which tends to avoid humans, slid away into the bushes.
"Snakes can't hear, but it could have sensed there were many people from the vibrations," he said.
NTU's pest control officers captured the python, which seemed exhausted after its struggle with the cobra, and was slithering sluggishly on the road.
The cobra made another appearance at 4pm, Mr Ambede said, and both the pest controllers and Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) were alerted.
However, the shy reptile managed to slip away again.
While the pest control team in NTU is on the look out for the snake, Mr Ambede was concerned that joggers may unwittingly come across the cobra.
While it is a "timid" snake, "if by mistake someone steps on it, it may attack", he said.
But he stressed that NTU lies in a forested area and he would like to see "animals and people can co-exist peacefully with each other".
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/python-versus-king-cobra-in-a-battle-at-ntu-campus#xtor=CS1-10
