Cebu zoo keeper fights for life after cobra bite

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A keeper at the Cebu City Zoo is now fighting for his life after he was bitten by a Philippine cobra he had just caught inside the zoo on Tuesday afternoon.

Ronaldo Aventurado, 24, who hails from Moalboal, Cebu, was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center after the incident.

Aventurado, a casual employee of the city government who is part of the zoo’s maintenance team, was still in critical condition yesterday.    

His breathing was no longer spontaneous, although his other vital signs were still normal. 

CCMC acting director Gloria Duterte said the city-run hospital and other private hospitals in the city do not have antivenin to minimize the effect of the snake’s venom. 

Giovanni Stephen Romarate, head of the zoo, said Aventurado and other zoo personnel were making a pathway inside the zoo when a man shouted upon seeing a snake.

Aventurado quickly ran toward the snake, which turned out to be a Philippine cobra. 

Romarate said Aventurado was advised not to catch the five-foot snake because it was dangerous.

But when Aventurado captured the snake, it quickly bit his left wrist. He, however, managed to secure the snake and put it in a safe place inside the facility. 

Romarate said there is no cobra at the zoo and in the entire province that is why he wondered where the poisonous snake came from. 

According to Romarate, in any snake bite incident, they usually make small cuts in the area of the wound to allow blood with the venom to come out. 

He said the zoo does not have anti-venom medicine. – Freeman News Service