A thief believed to have been behind the recent disappearance of 60 chickens in a village of Menglian County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, was finally nabbed last week… and turned out to be a three-meter long king cobra.

The hungry animal, measuring about 3.2 meters and weighing over seven kilograms, was found in a chicken pen after slithering into the village. The villagers, who had been working together to catch it after over 60 of their chickens went missing, called the police.

The king cobra is the longest venomous snake endemic to forests from India through Southeast Asia.

"People and livestock will die within half an hour if they are bitten by the snake without being injected with an antidote," said Li Wenhong, chief of the Menglian Public Security Bureau for Forestry.

But the dreaded snake is also threatened by habitat destruction and has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

This viper has now been sent to a wildlife rescue center, and will later be released back to nature.

(Cover image via VCG)

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