Zoo staff still looking for snake

 

 

Pretoria Zoo staff was on Wednesday still looking for a two-metre black mamba that escaped from its enclosure.

 

 

"We haven't found it yet but we have got some more people on the ground who are continually looking for it," zoo spokeswoman Angeline Schwan said.

 

"We are also starting our internal investigation as to what might have happened."

 

Staff realised last week that the snake's terrarium was empty. Schwan said she wanted to reassure the public that the missing snake posed no threat.

 

"Our experts have informed us that black mambas are not ground-dwelling snakes, unlike like puff-adders. They have a tendency to go upwards," she said.

 

"We therefore believe it went into the roof. Unfortunately because of the angle of the roof, we are unable to get in there."

 

Next weekend, an Easter egg hunt for children will take place at the zoo.

 

"We will continue with it," said Schwan.

 

"We do believe that by that time we will have an answer and we expect the investigation to be wrapped up and the snake to be found by then."