King Cobra

The king cobra is a species of snake, native to Southeast Asia, which is typically characterized by an expanded hood and a mark roughly resembling an inverted 'v' on its neck. On an average, a full-grown king cobra can attain a length of 12-13 ft, (with specimen as long as 18 ft being recorded) which makes it the longest venomous snake in the world. In the overall list of most venomous snakes in the world, the king cobra ranks 3rd only after the taipan and krait species which rank first and second respectively. Moving on to king cobra information, there are some things about this snake species which not many people are aware of.

King Cobra Facts You Need to Know

The king cobra is regarded as one of the deadliest snake in the world, and a large part of the credit for this goes to the prevailing misconceptions about this species. There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that king cobras are quite agile, and have the tendency to strike within fractions of a second. However, attack is more of a defense mechanism for this snake - and it will only strike when it feels threatened. Such fight or flight response is common to all living beings, including humans. It is this very ignorance about these facts about this snake which has earned it such a bad reputation in the world.

Surprisingly, one of the least known cobra snake facts is that the king cobra and other cobra species, like the spitting cobra, Cape cobra or Indian cobra, are not related to each other. The king cobra is the only member of genus Ophiophagus, while the other snake species which are referred to as cobras (22 in total including the three species mentioned above) belong to genus Naja. While the king cobra habitat is restricted to the dense forests of Southeast Asia, the cobra species belonging to Naja genus are found in Asia as well as Africa.

Interesting King Cobra Facts

Those king cobra myth busters given above must have surely added to your curiosity about this reptile species. When threatened, this snake tends to expand its hood and makes a hissing sound which is the sign for the predator, as well as you, to stay away. Given below is a compilation of 10 facts about king cobra which will throw some light on a few amazing attributes of this amazing animal.

1. The geographical range of king cobra snakes spans across several nations of Southeast Asia, with large concentrations observed in India, Indonesia, Burma, Malaysia and Vietnam.
2. While the cobra species belonging to naja genus will flee when confronted by humans or other animals species, a king cobra will raise one-third of its body in air and attack the predator.
3. Even though their venom is not the most potent venom in the world, the amount of the same that they deliver in a single snakebite is enough to kill 20 people in one go.
4. The king cobra is the only snake species to build their nest on the ground - and mind you, they guard their nest quite ferociously, even take on animals as huge as elephants if required.
5. Even though a king cobra cannot hear, it has this amazing ability to sense ground vibrations which it uses to detect nearing predators from as far as 300 feet.
6. The binomial name for king cobra is Ophiophagus hannah; interestingly the term Ophiophagus in its binomial name literally means 'snake-eater'.
7. Other than various species of snakes, both venomous as well as non-venomous, the king cobra diet consists of lizards, small birds (as well as their eggs) and small mammals.
8. The young ones in this species are armed with as much venom as their adults counterparts, and thus they as dangerous as them.
9. The highly toxic king cobra venom can turn out to be a lifesaving medication at times. In quite a few cases it is used in pain relievers and arthritis medication as well.
10. The king cobra is one of the few venomous snakes which features in the 'Red List', compiled by the 'International Union for Conservation of Nature' (IUCN) as a 'Least Concerned' species.

Even though the king cobra has been enlisted as the least concerned species by the IUCN, it doesn't mean that it is safe from human onslaught. Clearance of land for agricultural purpose in Southeast Asia has resulted in large-scale habitat destruction for this animal, thus forcing it to venture into human territory in search of food. The conflict which arises as a result of this is bound to end with casualties on either sides. Habitat destruction is an issue threatening the existence of different types of snakes, as well as other animal species, found in the world. The only solution to this problem is that we stop encroaching on their natural habitat, and that will make sure that the ecological balance prevails.