Zoo cobra gives keepers the ssslip

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A poisonous cobra has vanished from an enclosure outside public view at the Bronx Zoo, and its Reptile House remained closed as a precaution while zoo workers searched for the missing reptile.

While the roughly 50cm-long Egyptian cobra has been unaccounted for since Saturday, zoo officials say they're confident it hasn't gone far and isn't in a public area.

Its enclosure was in an isolation area not open to visitors. Zoo director Jim Breheny said snakes seek out confined spaces.