Moscow Zoo employee dies while feeding African garter snake

At the Moscow Zoo, a venomous snake bit an employee while he was feeding it.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by A.Savin is licensed under FAL

Moscow Zoo

Thirty-five-year-old man named only as Sergey Y. was preparing to feed an African garter snake. He had already opened the terrarium door when the reptile suddenly lunged forward and bit him on the finger. Another employee tried to help the man, but Sergey quickly developed a severe allergic reaction and went into anaphylactic shock, Baza Telegram channel reports.

An ambulance arrived promptly. Although paramedics attempted to save him, Sergey had already stopped breathing. Despite their efforts en route to the hospital, his heart stopped in the emergency vehicle and he could not be revived.

There is no specific antivenom for an African garter snake bite. However, the snake's venom is not highly toxic, and Sergey might have survived if not for the acute allergic reaction.

The Telegram channel 112 reported that Sergey worked as a technician.

Details

The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark (Russian: Московский зоопарк) is a 21.5-hectare (53-acre) zoo, the largest in Russia. The Moscow Zoo was founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the Government of Moscow and has remained under their control ever since. The zoo had an area of 10 hectares (25 acres) when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to 18 hectares (44 acres).