Cobra fights tiger!
On 27 December 2014, a caretaker at the zoo in Indore, one of the largest cities in Madhya Pradesh, India, found Rajan, a white tiger, lying in its enclosure, foaming at the mouth. The doctors were called in to check Rajan. They realised he had died! Looking around the enclosure, zoo officials found a black cobra. After the post mortem, the doctors declared that the tiger had died of snake bite.
A white Bengal female tiger frolics with her three cubs. This is not the tiger killed by snake bite- this picture is just to let you know how a white tiger looks. AFP PHOTO/ERNESTO BENAVIDES Rajan and the snake fought fiercely. Rajan injured the black cobra and left it partially paralysed. The snake crawled into a burrow in Rajan’s enclosure, where it was found. The snake was taken away to be treated. It recovered in a few days.
A Cobra snake, earlier caught in IndiaAFP PHOTO/ NARINDER NANU Rajan had been brought to Indore zoo just a month before from his home in Bhilai in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh. The zoo is now left with three white tigresses, Divya, Sita and Shivani. About two years ago, another snake had entered the enclosure of two tigers in Indore zoo, but the tigers killed it and survived. Most tigers are a tawny yellow. The white tiger is related to the Royal Bengal tiger that is found not only in the Indian state of West Bengal but also in the nearby states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam and in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. The tiger gets its colour from red and yellow pigments in its body. When some genes are absent, the tiger cannot make the yellow skin colour and looks white. This is called albinism.
A cobra is one of the most venomous snakes. It is common in many parts of India. The cobra gets its name from the Portuguese term, cobra de capelo which means, hooded snake. When it is disturbed, the cobra can spread its neck out into a hood and scare away the enemy.Story by Benita Sen for The Whiz Times
