Tourist Killed By Deadly Cobra Moments After Taking Pic With It Around His Neck
An man has tragically lost his life moments after posing for a picture with a cobra in Jodhpur, India.
The victim was fatally bitten just as the snake charmer attempted to place the creature around the man's neck.
A shocking video captured the moment the reptile delivered a deadly dose of venom directly into the man's cheek.
The tourist didn't immediately notice he had been bitten, as he is seen continuing to pose for a picture.
However, a few moments later, the video shows him touching his cheek repeatedly, sensing something was wrong.
He asked the snake charmer to check whether or not he had been bitten, though he was ignored while the man carried on with his demonstration for the small crowd of people.
The victim began to lose consciousness just a few minutes later, MailOnline reports.
He was taken to a medicine man in Jodhpur, India, rather than a hospital, and within an hour, he had tragically succumbed to the cobra's poison.
According to the University of Michigan, cobras have several methods for delivering venom to their prey.
Sometimes, they spit the poison into a victim's eyes, which can cause extreme pain and even blindness.
But the most common method involves a direct bite into the victim's body.
Once a cobra's venom spreads through the bloodstream, it can lead to paralysis, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and then death.
The only way to counteract most poisonous snake venoms is to inject the appropriate anti-venom quickly after the bite has occurred.
The study from the University of Michigan adds,
If anti-venom is unavailable, your life can still be saved by putting you on an artificial respirator until the paralysis of the diaphragm muscle wears off.
As of now, the exact species of the cobra in this deadly incident is not known.
According to MailOnline, there are five such species native to India, all of which contain poison that is potentially fatal to humans.
Citations: The kiss of death: Man posing for a photo with a deadly cobra in India doesn't even realize when the snake bites his face... 'then dies an hour later' (MailOnline), Effects of Cobra Venom (University of Michigan)
