Deadly king cobra makes terrifying escape at Swedish zoo

This slippery, modern-day Houdini is sparking hiss-steria.

A Swedish zoo remained on partial lockdown Tuesday three days after a deadly 8-foot-long king cobra escaped in front of rattled visitors.

The venomous snake, Sir Vass — or Sir Hiss — was officially renamed Houdini after slithering out of his terrarium from Skansen Aquarium on Saturday, just days after he arrived.

The zoo confirmed that “visitors filmed the king cobra slithering” out through a lamp fixture, with the latest update warning that it “has not yet been captured.”

One clip online caught an alarmed visitor asking: “Is it safe to be here?”

“No, but we’re working on it,” a staffer calmly replied in the clip, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The king cobra has been renamed Houdini after it slithered out through a light fixture days after arriving at the zoo.

YouTube / Sharjah24 News

Asked if it was “safe to be here,” one aquarium worker admitted: “No, but we’re working on it.”

YouTube / Sharjah24 News

The hissing Houdini took just days to break out of the terrarium that has housed king cobras for about 15 years, Jonas Wahlstrom, director of the Skansen Aquarium, told AFP.

“It turned out to be clever,” he joked.

However, one of the snake keepers, Bo Jonsson, admitted to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter: “We have clearly made a mistake.”

The aquarium will remain closed until Houdini’s vanishing act is over, the director said — with other parts of the zoo, including the gift shop, remaining open.

The aquarium will remain closed until Houdini’s vanishing act comes to an end, with staff insisting guests in other parts of the zoo are safe.

HENRIK MONTGOMERY/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images

Despite king cobras being one of the deadliest snakes — with one bite delivering enough venom to kill 20 people — the zoo insisted “there is no risk to employees or guests.”

“The risk of it getting out is considered non-existent,” the zoo stated — adding that even if it could get out, “it won’t survive the cold climate.

“The cold causes it, even if it burrows into the soil, to become lethargic and numb before freezing to death rather quickly,” it said on its website.

Until then, staff have used flour to track the snake’s movements, sticky traps to catch it, and special cameras to see into smaller nooks and crannies, AFP reported.

Swedish media said the snake was already 8-foot-long, but king cobras can grow up to 18 feet.

King cobras can grow 18-feet long and have enough venom in one bite to kill 20 people.

Getty Images

They are famed for being able to “stand up” and look a full-grown person in the eye — and still move forward to attack, National Geographic notes.

“Fortunately, king cobras are shy and will avoid humans whenever possible,” the nature specialists noted — while noting that a single bite is venomous enough “to kill 20 people, or even an elephant.”