Oct 27, 2008 7:47 pm US/Eastern
Homestead Man Recovering From King Cobra Bite
Venom From A King Cobra Can Kill An Elephant
It's Been 15 Years Since Miami-Dade Anti-Venom Unit Has Treated Anyone For A King Cobra Bite In South Florida
HOMESTEAD (CBS4) ―
A Homestead man remained hospitalized Monday and was in good condition, recovering from a potentially deadly King Cobra bite. The 13-foot-long cobra bit him at a Homestead wildlife center on Sunday.
Experts with Miami-Dade's Venom Unit say it's been about 15 years since they've treated a King Cobra bite in South Florida.
The victim, Albert Killian, is an experienced snake handler and a volunteer at the Everglades Outpost, a wildlife rescue sanctuary. He was hospitalized after being bitten in the forearm and was in serious condition earlier Monday.
The 50-year-old victim was cleaning the cobra's cage around 2:30 p.m. when he was bitten. "In this case, this gentleman has been dealing with snakes for 30-plus years at a minimum, and he just got a little careless," explained Miami-Dade Venom Unit Chief Al Cruz. "The snake did what a snake does, which is bite when it gets the opportunity."
Killian was given more than 20 vials of anti-venom and doctors are watching his condition very closely. They're watching his heart rate and lungs, to make sure he doesn't have internal bleeding and respiratory failure. King Cobra venom is complicated and deadly.
"He's in an excruciating amount of pain at this point," Cruz said. "When it injects venom, it's not so much the toxicity but the quantity. They can inject up to a martini glass full of venom into you."
The King Cobra is a very dangerous snake. Its venom has the ability to kill a full-grown elephant. The snake is not native to South Florida. They're found mostly in Asian countries, such as Thailand and India. There are only a few of them located in animal sanctuaries throughout South Florida.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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