Venomous snakes have been seized in urban Shanghai.
(ECNS) -- Altogether 25 venomous snakes have been seized in urban Shanghai, the suspected consequence of randomly freeing wildlife, a local newspaper reported.
On Thursday morning, a female resident called local firefighters after finding two snakes slithering along a road in Minxing District. "It was terrifying. I found more hidden in the grass," she added.
Firefighters seized 18 snakes in an hour, each of which is three-fingers wide and around one meter long. One firefighter said they had already caught another seven snakes the evening before.
All snakes were caged and sent to a local zoo. Staff there confirmed that they were non-native species, but a type of cobra enlisted as a class II protected specie in China.
The wild animal protection station in the district said the snakes were probably released by do-gooders. Luckily they are in a hibernating state, or otherwise, they would have hurt residents, it was added.
Experts warned that randomly freeing wildlife poses a threat to the ecological environment if they are not indigenous species.
