Hunt for 50 baby cobras missing from illegal farm in eastern China

Authorities in eastern China are hunting for more than 50 baby cobras that are missing from an unlicensed snake farm, Chinese officials say.

The health authority in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has prepared a stock of snake antivenom in case any residents are bitten, the local government announced on its official Weibo page on Monday.

More than 200 venomous cobras escaped from the snake farm in a village in Nanjing in August, of which about 150 had been caught or killed, the announcement said.

One of them was found in a villager’s home on Saturday and beaten to death.