A rescue team battled with a giant 17ft-long king cobra that was 'searching for her dead partner' her was killed the day before.

The volunteers were called on the scene after the deadly reptile was spotted slithering down a septic tank hole next to a home in Krabi province, southern Thailand, on January 25.

They lured the creature away from the houses and into the road where one of their colleagues bravely took on the animal.

After trying to calm the snake down, he finally was able to catch her using bare hands and placed her securely inside a sack.

Rescue officer Sutee Naewhat said they retrieved a smaller male cobra the day before - which could be the snake's mating partner - in the same area where the giant female was found lurking but it was killed by villagers.

He said: 'There was a smaller male cobra in the area a day before but when we arrived, it was already killed by a villager who was afraid of the animal.

'The two snakes could be pairs and mating and the large female might have been looking for her husband when she was found by the resident.'

No one was reported hurt in the incident including the snake. Rescuers then took the cobra with them to be released later into the wild.