Reptile World Owner Bitten By King Cobra

Few survive a jolt from a snake poisonous enough to kill a full-grown elephant.

But a well-known central Florida snake expert was still alive late Thursday in an Orlando Hospital after being bitten by a king cobra.

The 12-foot snake seized the arm of Reptile World owner George Van Horn on Wednesday when he tried to pull it from a wooden box while a group of two dozen 5- and 6-year-olds watched through a thick glass window.

“It happened so quickly that I don’t even think any of them realized what had happened,” said Vivian Wright, spokeswoman for Reptile World.

Van Horn, 51, is given a 50-50 chance of survival.

Cobras, whose venom attacks the nervous system, are not known as hostile snakes.

Van Horn was bitten by an 8-year-old brown king cobra. It is one of dozens of poisonous snakes he milks every day at his tourist attraction near St. Cloud, a bedroom and farming community south of Walt Disney World. Van Horn sells the venom to pharmaceutical companies for research.

Van Horn grabbed 10 vials of anti-venin, a serum that counteracts the poison. All places that handle poisonous snakes are required to keep anti-venin in stock.

A co-worker rushed Van Horn to a hospital in St. Cloud, where a helicopter picked him up and hurried him to Orlando.

As his breathing became extremely labored, it soon was clear that Van Horn would need more anti-toxin. Word went out to zoos, serpentariums and research facilities throughout the country. Shipments were rushed to Orlando over the next 24 hours.