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Stowaway centipede takes up residence in zoo
A giant venomous centipede is Bristol Zoo’s latest edition having snuck through customs from Antigua, hidden in a holidaymaker’s dirty washing. Jennie Esler was staying in the Antiguan town of English Harbour when the centipede snuck inside her luggage and was only discovered a day after she returned home.
Curtley, as it has been named, is believed to be a Peruvian giant centipede, among the largest species and toxic to humans. He has been housed in the zoo’s Bug World exhibit.
“I have no idea when he actually got in there, but I packed it up to leave on the Saturday morning, popped to the beach for a bit and then made our way up to the airport,” said Jennie. “We arrived home after an 8 hour flight at 9am on Sunday morning and went straight to sleep. I didn’t unpack that bag for another 24 hours.
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“At first I thought I was seeing things and then I peered inside and saw nothing but legs against the black fabric of the bag. He didn’t actually run out, he was quite shy. I had to tip him out of the bag into the bathroom sink, as I didn’t really know what he was at this point. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him. How did he get there? I didn’t know what to do so I called the RSPCA who advised me to ring the Zoo and the rest is history.”
Mark Bushell, Assistant Curator of Invertebrates at Bristol Zoo said: “Curtley has settled in well. It is hard to tell whether Curtley is male or female but we do know that he/she likes digging tunnels and particularly likes eating crickets.”
Read about Bristol’s giant animatronic bugs here.
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