Men slaughtered king cobra for feast in Arunachal Pradesh [Representative image| Photo credits: iStock]

Key Highlights A video surfaced on social media showing three men carrying carcass of the giant venomous reptile on their shoulders The men proudly said that they had made elaborate preparations for a feast One of the ‘hunters’ said that they were looking for something to eat when they found the king cobra in the jungle

Itanagar: Amid the ongoing chaos due to the viral pandemic, a shocking incident has been reported from Arunachal Pradesh where a group of men allegedly slaughtered a giant 12-feet long king cobra that they found in the jungle. The incident came to light when a video surfaced on social media showing three men carrying the carcass of the giant venomous reptile on their shoulders.

'Arrangements for cleaning and chopping king cobra'

The video garnered a lot of flak from the Netizens over the alleged slaughter of the reptile. In the video, the three snake ‘hunters’ were presumptuously seen displaying the snake, which they claimed to have killed in the forest. They said that they had made elaborate preparations for the feast. They had laid banana leaves for cleaning and chopping the king cobra.

According to a report of NDTV, one of the ‘hunters’ said that as a result of nationwide, their rice stock has got exhausted. So, they went to the jungle to find something to eat. During their search for food in the jungle, they found the king cobra, he added.

Another incident: Six pythons slaughtered in public

In February, six giant pythons were allegedly slaughtered in public view in Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura. The accused belonged to Simlung village and were arrested by the police under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In a video that went viral on social media platforms, the accused were seen decollating, skinning and chopping the reptiles into several pieces and later consumed the meat. Several NGOs and wildlife activists flared up in protest against the brutal killing of the endangered pythons.

King cobra- a vulnerable species, says IUCN

The king cobra is a venomous species of snakes which is endemic to India and other Southeast Asian countries. The reptile faces a threat to its survival due to habitat destruction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared it to be a threatened species in its Red List. Under national laws, it is protected under Schedule 2 of the India Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.