Pretoria zoo’s black mamba is M.I.A.

[Serpent]

I read that they were now using infrared glasses to spot the snakes, as even snakes have a heat signature! The press are something else!

[9Naja]

Snakes glow pretty bright under thermal

[Nasicornis]

9Naja, yes I would be able to if it as a piece of the tail had been injured and had exposed bone which had been amputated. Nice to see that the snake is "possibly" stolen. Bull, had been my opinion from the start. Stated my annoyance of all of this at the onset when it was reported missing on my Facebook profile and the Zoo requested "more info please". Replied with my full opinion and stated what I believed to be facts. Never got a reply after that.

[gekosin]

Johannesburg – "Houdini", the 2m black mamba that escaped from its enclosure at the Pretoria Zoo more than two weeks ago has still not been found.

"There is no further update," the zoo's marketing manager Craig Allanby said on Monday.

On Friday, Allanby said the snake could have been stolen, adding that there was a market for illegal trade in indigenous reptiles such as black mambas.

An internal investigation into the possible theft of the snake would be conducted to check if staff members could have been involved.

The hunt for Houdini started on 11 March after staff members realised the snake's terrarium was empty.

Since then prey such as rats were used to try and lure the snake out, but this was unsuccessful.

Infra-red cameras were also installed to detect radiation which is emitted by warm bodies.

- News24

http://www.news24.com/Green/News/Still-no-sign-of-missing-mamba-20130325

Random question - how much is a black mamba even worth? Would it be worth stealing?

[MrG]

Some of these statements from the zoo staff becomes a joke.
If it was stolen then somebody was desparate. BM are not that scarce and are available for less than 1k.

[Gargoyle]

Thanks to the media stunt, every few visitors at Reptile Garden snake park have some ridiculous and snide comments about how they hope our snakes dont escape on us. Its getting annoying.
Ooh maybe we should pull a stunt like that too . . .

[MrG]

Thanks to the media stunt, every few visitors at Reptile Garden snake park have some ridiculous and snide comments about how they hope our snakes dont escape on us. Its getting annoying.

Is it a media stunt or did the snake really escaped?

[9Naja]

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/ ... WFrcaJTBLd

Zoo snake found

April 7 2013 at 02:07pm
By SAPA

The Pretoria Zoo's black mamba who went missing last month was found.

Pretoria - The Pretoria Zoo's black mamba who went missing last month was found on Sunday.

“He was spotted slithering along the wall of the Reptile Park service area,” said the zoo's spokesman Craig Allenby.

“Reptile Park staff have caught the snake and he is being kept in a darkened container in order to keep him calm.”

Allenby said the mamba, nicknamed 'Houdini', was in good condition and would spend the next few days in the container to readjust.

“Houdini did not respond to the food that was placed in the service access area and has not fed since his escape.”

He said, however, snakes could go several weeks without feeding and the mamba would eat sometime next week.

Allenby said that “without a shadow of doubt” the returned snake was Houdini.

“He has a distinguishing kink in his tail that resulted from a previous injury he received before being donated to the zoo.”

On March 11, Houdini was noticed to be missing from his terrarium at the zoo's Reptile Park.

An extensive search ensued and at one stage the zoo even contemplated whether the mamba had been stolen.

Allenby said Houdini would return to the public spotlight soon. - Sapa

[Bushviper]

.... or possibly was returned over a weekend when they knew there were not many staff on duty to see the snake being found? Both time when he went missing and when he was found was over a weekend.

[Nasicornis]

OMG!!! You see this is what really FU@kI#g Pi@ses me OFF! The snake was not injured prior to donation!!! I donated it in PERFECT health, shedding well and eating like a pig. It got injured about a month AFTER DONATION! They should know this as the amputation had been done at the zoo by their vets!!! Maybe the two vet nurses, two vets, two exchange vet students, one conservator and one animal attendant (including myself) who were actually present during the procedure might serve as a reminder to what really happened. If not, they might want to check the vet records and compare dates to when it had been donated with when the actual procedure had been performed. Also, weird that the weekend shifts are devided into two teams (A and B). Coincidentally strange how the lost and found dates correspond with the same shift working on both these weekends...

[Nasicornis]

And so the negligence and irresponsibility is spun round into a great new marketing strategy with the "Great Houdini" becoming the centre of attention.

[Scar69]

Here's a video I found on news24...
So my question is.. If the snake was receieved 100% in terms of no injuries sustained why are they stating that it had an injury before it was Donated ?

http://www.news24.com/Multimedia/South- ... d-20130408

Strange

[fredsmith]

I think the mention of the injury is merely an attempt at reassuring Joe Public that the snake caught, is indeed the one now in hand.
Stating it was injured prior to their ownership, is also a mere ploy of showing how the snake is identified as theirs, but in the same breath, that they are not responsible for how it is marked this way.

[Nasicornis]

Which is a blatant lie! Here's a thought. If you lose one the most dangerous animals in Africa due to negligence or lack of any security what better way to further tarnish your image by admitting the animal had been injured while in your care? Better to say "you got it in the injured state." The tail got injured while one of the staff members accidentally closed a downward dropping cage lid onto the tail while it had been in quarintine room 2.

[Nasicornis]

If the snake came in injured why does the admin reflect weeks pasr between donation time to amputation of tail tip by the zoo vets themselves. All new animals are checked by the vets and surely they would have operated immediately. One might argue that the injury had been an old one which had healed by the time of the donation but then what the hell is the record system at the vet hospital at the zoo reflecting on about the ampuation of the tail tip almost a month later. There had been bone exposure at the tailtip and in an attempt to avoid necrotic infections the decision was made to amputate a section of the tail.