Middle schooler bitten by pet cobra, spotlighting illegal exotic pet ownership
Summary
A 14-year-old boy in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, was bitten by a cobra Tuesday while taking it out of its cage to sell, and was airlifted to a hospital for anti-venom treatment. The forest cobra is a designated wild animal whose trade and possession are prohibited in principle under the Wildlife Protection and Management Act. Police plan to investigate how it was traded before deciding whether to formally book the boy. The case follows other incidents involving illegally kept dangerous wild animals, including a Siamese crocodile found in Yeoju.
Key Facts
- The boy showed signs of paralysis after the bite and was taken to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
- He had obtained the forest cobra through an online community.
- A man in his 30s was booked after a Siamese crocodile he bought for 1.2 million won through an online reptile-trading community was caught in a stream in Yeoju in July.
- In 2016, a social media personality received a four-month prison sentence for keeping a Siamese crocodile at home for eight years and feeding it rabbits and other animals.
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A middle school student bitten by a cobra while trying to trade it illegally has been caught by police, raising concerns about illegal ownership of wild animals.
According to the police, a 14-year-old boy in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, was bitten on the back of his hand by a cobra Tuesday, prompting an emergency call to 119. He showed signs of paralysis and was airlifted to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where he received anti-venom treatment.
The bite reportedly occurred when he took the cobra out of its cage to sell it to another person. The snake was a forest cobra, which he had obtained through an online community. The species is a designated wild animal under the Wildlife Protection and Management Act, and trading or keeping it is prohibited in principle.
Police plan to investigate how the cobra was traded before deciding whether to formally book him.
This is the latest case of someone in Korea being caught illegally keeping dangerous wild animals. In July, a crocodile caught in a stream in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, was identified as a Siamese crocodile. The species is listed as a Class 1 internationally endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
A man in his 30s was booked by police on charges of keeping the crocodile he bought in 2023 for 1.2 million won ($905) through an online community that trades reptiles.
Illegal possession of the species has led to prison sentences before. In 2016, a social media personality was sentenced to four months in prison for violating the Wildlife Protection and Management Act after keeping a Siamese crocodile at home for eight years and feeding it rabbits and other animals.
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