Cobra missing from Bronx Zoo exhibit

Officials closed the Reptile House at the Bronx Zoo after a poisonous Egyptian cobra was found to be missing from an enclosure away from the exhibits.

The zoo said in a statement posted on its website that the building was immediately closed and secured after staff noticed the 20-inch adolescent snake was gone Friday afternoon. The Reptile House remained closed Sunday as a precaution while zoo workers searched for the missing reptile.  

The statement said that staff "took steps throughout the evening to recover the snake" and that officials are confident the snake is in a "non-public isolation area within the building."

Snakes usually seek closed-in spaces and are not comfortable in open areas, the zoo said.

"We are informing the public out of an abundance of caution and will continue to take whatever steps necessary to ensure public safety," the statement said, adding, "The Reptile House will be closed until further notice."

An official with the zoo did not immediately return a phone call from Newsday Saturday night.