What sss-social distancing? 3-metre-long King Cobra slithers to Marsiling MRT

When the cat is away, the mice will play.

While most people are cooped up at home during the circuit breaker, a three-metre-long King Cobra was spotted taking a stroll near Marsiling MRT on Sunday (May 3) afternoon.

The curious spectacle was captured on video and uploaded onto Twitter that day.

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"I was strolling to NTUC to get groceries when this big girl came out of nowhere," the woman behind the camera, who declined to be named, wrote in her tweet.

Speaking with AsiaOne, her sister Feeza recounted how the venomous snake had slithered from a lift lobby of Block 16 Woodlands Street 13 before the crowd that had gathered there frightened the animal into hiding near a bush just outside the station.

As NParks were busy handling another case at that point in time, the sisters called the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) for help instead. In the meantime, the area was cordoned off by an SMRT staff.

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Before ACRES staff arrived on the scene, an uncle boasted that he could catch snakes by himself but he was stopped by other on-lookers.

However, the snake had started burrowing into a hole in the soil by the time ACRES got there. It took two people as well as snake tongs to safely extract the reptile.

In a 30-second-long clip Feeza showed to AsiaOne, the staff took quite some effort to contain the cobra in a transporting tub.

Kalai Vanan, Deputy Chief Executive of ACRES, told AsiaOne it was likely the shy forest creature had ended up in the heartlands by travelling through the canals and drainage networks which connect the area to nearby green spaces such as Sungei Cina and the Central Nature Reserve.

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The snake was confirmed to be unharmed and was later released at a suitable location.

ACRES advised the public against crowding around wild animals to prevent stressing them out, which may cause them to act in self-defence.

During this period of time, the wildlife rescue group also reminded the public to observe proper social distancing measures.

rainercheung@asiaone.com