Draft:2023 Cebu King Cobra infestation

The 2023 Cebu King Cobra infestation is the sudden influx of sightings of king cobras in the island of Cebu that started in 2023.

Earlier incidents
A zoo keeper, Ronaldo ‘Ronron’ Aventurado, of the defunct Cebu Zoo was hospitalized after being bitten by a king cobra in 2012. The snake was not one of the animals kept in the zoo. On August 22, the Cebu City council passed a resolution asking the Department of Health - Central Visayas to be better equipped when handling snake bite incidents highlighting the lack of antivenom in the city—Aventurado's serum had to be flown in, via helicopter, from Camiguin.

2023 sightings and present
King cobra sightings are unheard for some time in Cebu although many claim king cobras are not naturally found in the island. The earliest known record of the snake in the province was in the 1950s and the earliest known recent sighting was in July of 2023 when two teenagers spotted a king cobra on a hike in a hill in the town of San Fernando which the two shared on Facebook. A king cobra was spotted in the same town in December of the same year. A third king cobra was spotted in the town with a dead snake prey in November. A king cobra was caught in barangay Guadalupe in Carcar, the snake was taken by the police and turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the same moth. In December, two king cobras were seen chasing a young python in a house in the town of Sibonga and another was spotted in the town of Badian.

In January 2024, a king cobra was killed in the town of Argao. An adult king cobra was caught in the northern Cebu town of Tabagon and was abrupptly released by members of the town's MDRRMMO office in a wooded area in the same town. Two snakes where spotted in a mating dance in Busay in Cebu City. As seen on the posted video the two snakes were killed after it attempted to attack a passing motorcycle. Another two where seen and killed out of fear in the town of Dalaguete.

On January 30, a 64-year-old man was found dead in Dalaguete. Maximo Millan went to pasture his goats at around 6 AM and was found dead in a grassy area by a relative around 11 AM. He was found with a snake bite on the back of his left knee. An autopsy is ordered to establish the cause of death.

In February, a dead king cobra was identified in Sogod.