From snake-themed events to whether your luck is in: discover all you need to know about the coming Lunar New Year in our Year of the Snake 2025 series.
In May last year, Sun Tak-hei was hiking with his wife in Shing Mun Country Park in Hong Kong’s New Territories when they spotted a king cobra.
The bite of the king cobra, one of Hong Kong’s most venomous snakes, is potentially lethal.
They are also fast and will bite if scared. You know if one is in a bad mood when it rises up and expands its distinctive hood, which is what this one did.
But Sun, 32, a passionate reptile enthusiast with years of experience of keeping snakes as pets, knew what to do. He is, after all, one of Hong Kong’s seven licensed snake catchers.
“I often observe and photograph different snake species in the wild while learning how to handle them properly,” says Sun.
