Hair-raising footage shows a cobra attacking the snake’s handler.
A Karnataka man’s stunt with three snakes ended badly when a snake attacked him. Maz Sayed, a snake enthusiast from Sirsi, was filmed handling three cobras, which many experts have described as “terrible”. They were seen bowing to the snakes, pulling their tails and moving their hands around – all gestures the cobras could perceive as threats and react aggressively.
Unfortunately for Mr. Sayeed – whose YouTube channel is full of similar videos – that’s exactly what happened. His most recent stunt ended on a terrifying note when suddenly a snake struck him. Footage that has gone viral online shows the snake lunging at the stuntman and biting his knee. The reptile refused to let go, even as the shocked man tried to pull it away.
Sharing the video on Twitter, Indian Forest Service officer Sushant Nanda criticized the snake-handler. “This is a terrifying way to handle a cobra. The snake sees the movements as a threat and follows the movement. At times, the reaction can be fatal,” he wrote.
This is a terrible way to deal with a cobra…
The snake considers the movements a threat and follows the movement. At times, the reaction can be fatal. pic.twitter.com/U89EkzJrFc— sushant nanda ifs (@sushantananda3) 16 March 2022
A Facebook post shared by Priyanka Kadam, president and founder of the Snakebite Healing and Education Society, shows Mr Syed was hospitalized after being bitten by a cobra.
Cobra is the common name for various extinct snakes, and all known cobras are venomous. In Mr. Syed’s case, he reportedly received 46 vials of anti-venom after his stunt went wrong.
Ms Kadam shared pictures of the 20-year-old snake-handler at the hospital. “He is admitted to a private hospital in Sirsi, Karnataka,” she wrote in an update shared yesterday. While Ms Kadam had earlier asked Maz Saeed to be booked for “inserting material that is clearly an abuse of wildlife”, she later suggested that an expert could try to guide the youth.
“A specialist might try to guide him. He wasn’t arrogant. Spoke respectfully. He’s still unwell. Will join him once he’s fully recovered,” she wrote.
Atul Pai, a snake and animal rescuer from Mangalore also cautioned against similar stunts. Mr. Pai wrote, “A young snake enthusiast Maz Sayed from Sirsi, Karnataka was bitten by a spectacled cobra while he was keeping 3 cobras and playing with them.” Facebook, “It’s a very popular stunt that many people follow and they don’t understand the seriousness of it! Unnecessarily handling and playing around can have serious consequences.”
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