Elusive N.Y. cobra named in contest

NEW YORK -- The name of New York City's most elusive snake is Mia for "missing in action."

The moniker won out over four other finalists Thursday in a contest to name the slippery Bronx Zoo cobra. More than 33,000 nominations were submitted to the Bronx Zoo and New York Daily News for the contest.

The venomous Egyptian cobra went missing two weeks ago and quickly became the stuff of legend. Someone even started pretending to be the cobra on Twitter. The animal was found a week ago in a dark corner of the reptile house.

Other finalists in the naming contest: Cleopatra; Agnes, which is Greek for pure or holy; Amaunet, which means "the female hidden one" and was the name of an ancient Egyptian goddess; and Subira, Egyptian for "patient."