Venomous king cobra on the loose in Florida

The snake got out of a supposedly inescapable room

Wildlife officials in Florida are attempting to track down an 8-foot-long, venomous king cobra that has escaped from a home in Orlando.

The snake went missing from a 5-acre property called Dragon Ranch, on the 4800 block of North Apopka Vineland Road, east of Ocoee, the owner told officials.

The owner, who has been named by local broadcaster MyNews13 as Mike Kennery of the Discovery Channel TV series Airplane Repo, alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when the snake disappeared, according to spokesman Greg Workman.

The non-native snake, which is green yellow, was kept inside an inescapable room, but somehow managed to get out.

Although the snake is venomous, its owner is an experienced handler and has a proper permit to keep it as a pet. It is otherwise illegal to keep a venomous snake in Florida.

Kennedy’s website explains that he rescues animals that people know to be dangerous predators.

Search teams have been putting up posters in the local area to alert the public that they are looking for the snake.

“I live behind the guy and so do many other people and there’s a whole subdivision right behind him,“ neighbour Judy Brown told MyNews13.

“So yeah I’m worried that it will leave the woods,” she said.

Residents are warned not to approach the reptile if they spot it, and officials have urged people to contact the agency’s alert hotline.