NEED TO KNOW
An Egyptian cobra at the Bronx Zoo went missing in 2011, sparking a weeklong search and one popular Twitter account
@BronxZooCobra made jokes about the snake online as scores of followers flocked to the page
The snake, rescued a few hundred feet from the enclosure, was given a new name: Mia.
Fifteen years ago, an Egyptian cobra went missing from her enclosure in the Bronx Zoo. When she was located nearly a week later, the snake had gained immense fame, adoration and the dedicated attention of New York City.
When the two-foot, 3-ounce cobra slipped from her enclosure at the Bronx Zoo’s Reptile House, the news took off quickly — particularly on social media, The New York Times and ABC News reported at the time. While New York was on the lookout for the slithering escapee, a Twitter user posing as the snake built a sizable following.
“I want to thank those animals from the movie ‘Madagascar,'” @BronxZoosCobra‘s first tweet read. “They were a real inspiration.”
An Egyptian cobra.
Credit: Getty
The same day, the account offered: “Dear NYC, Apples and snakes have gone together since the beginning.”
After nearly a weeklong snake hunt, the elusive Egyptian cobra was finally located on Thursday, March 31, 2011. The snake was ultimately found a few hundred feet from her enclosure at the Reptile House.
Jim Breheny, Bronx Zoo director, said the snake was found “coiled, sort of secluded in a dark corner” around 9 a.m., per ABC. To extract the snake and return her to her designated enclosure, one of the Reptile House employees grabbed “special tongs to grip the animal” and deliver her back to her home.
After New York’s vibrant response and interest in the snake, the Bronx Zoo decided to hold a contest to decide the reptile’s name, per the BBC. Ultimately, the public chose “Mia,” which earned 27% of the roughly 59,000 votes. Coming in second, third, fourth and fifth were Subira, Amaunet, Cleopatra and Agnes, respectively.
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At the time, BBC reported, the famous Twitter account gave a silly reply to the official renaming of the snake.
“So, the vote is in. They want to name me Mia,” the post read. “But in my heart I’ll always know that my true name is Mrs Justin Bieber.”
Read the original article on People