THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo authorities have submitted a report to the state government on the death of A S Harshad, the reptile keeper who died due to a king cobra bite on Thursday, citing lack of caution on his part. Harshad’s body was brought to the band stand on the zoo premises on Friday for the staff and public to pay homage. He was laid to rest at Koottappu Juma Masjid at Kattakada in the evening. The postmortem examination revealed the cause of his death as due to high venom quantity spewed by the king cobra. Forty-five-year-old Harshad’s death was the first known fatality the state has ever seen due to the deadly king cobra bite.
He was bitten when he was cleaning the two enclosures of the three king cobras at the reptile park during recess time at 12.15pm. Another keeper noticed Harshad lying paralysed inside the enclosure more than an hour later.Harshad managed to show the bite to the keeper before he lost consciousness. He was brought dead to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.
The CCTV visuals inside the reptile park showed Harshad entering the enclosure and shifting sevenyear- old male king cobra Karthik to the rear enclosure. After cleaning the main enclosure, Harshad was seen cleaning the excreta of Karthik from the rear enclosure with bare hands when the snake bit him on his left hand. According to S Abu, director, Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo, it was overconfidence and lack of caution from the part of Harshad which led to his death.” In the report submitted to the state government, we have clearly mentioned what led to his death.
The king cobra might have felt apprehensive when Harshad cleaned its excreta from the enclosure,” Abu told TNIE.It is reliably learnt that the department has sought a job for his wife, Sheeja, under the die in harness scheme and compensation befitting his remaining 15 years in government service. A senior zoo keeper told TNIE that apart from giving a job to the kin of Harshad and compensation, the state government should ensure the safety of all staff members in the zoo.
A senior doctor at the Thiruvananthapuram MCH told TNIE that the postmortem examination revealed that the quantity of venom spewed into Harshad’s hand was high compared to other snakebites caused by cobra or Russell’s viper. The postmortem report will be provided to the Museum police on Monday. Meanwhile, close to 300 staff belonging to the museum and zoo department offered floral tributes to Harshad when his body was brought to the band stand.