An enormous king cobra was discovered slithering at the bottom of 40-foot-well in rural east India, prompting a rescue by animal workers.

Reportedly a woman went to fetch water from a village well in Banki in Odisha state on November 21. She then saw the six-foot-long cobra inside the well and ran back to her house in fear.

Villages called Snake Helpline, which sent two local volunteers, Lalit Mohan Panda and Durga Madhab Mohapatra, to rescue the snake from the well.

They lowered a well-hook tied to rope into the well and the desperate snake coiled around the hook. Lalit then slowly pulled up the venomous snake and released it away from the village in a suitable natural habitat.

Subhendu Mallik, founder of Snake Helpline said: "Rescuers usually try to enter the well to rescue snakes across India taking huge risk. Our method is safe and time tested.”

A woman went to fetch water from a village well in Banki in eastern India on November 21.

She saw a huge cobra inside the well and ran back to her house in fear.

Villages called Snake Helpline, which sent two local volunteers, Lalit Mohan Panda and Durga Madhab Mohapatra, to rescue the snake from the 40-feet deep well.

They lowered a well-hook tied to rope into the well and the desperate snake coiled around the hook. Lalit then slowly pulled up the six-feet long snake and released it away from the village in a suitable natural habitat.

Subhendu Mallik, founder of Snake Helpline said "Rescuers usually try to enter the well to rescue snakes across India taking huge risk. Our method is safe and time tested.”