KingCobraOrder - squamata Family - Elapidae Genus & Species - Ophiophagus hannah Group 3 - Reptiles & Amphibians

Weight: 12-17.6 lbs. Length: Up to 16’ average 13.2’Sexual Maturity: About 4 years

Mating Season: January Number of Eggs: 18 to 51, usually 40 to 50; laid about

2 months after mating. Incubation Period: 70-77 days

Birth Interval: 1 yearTypical Diet:

Mainly snakes, plus some lizardsLifespan: 20 years

of average

Vital Statistics

Largest venomous snake in the world, growing to a length of almost 16.5’. Preys on other snakes

(even venomous species) by subduing them with its highly potent venom and swallowing them whole. Rears its head off the ground and spreads its neck into

a “hood” to threaten intruders and predators.

Key Features

King Cobra

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Fangs - The sanke’s hollow fangs grow to a length of 1/2”.

It punches them into its prey, like hypodermic needles, and injects a powerful venom.

Head - The cobra can dislocate its jaw to engulf large prey. The venom glands lie behind the eyes.

Skin - Its skin is olive-green, tan or black with faint, pale yellow cross-

bands down the length of the body. The underbelly is cream or pale yellow.

The heavy and muscular king cobra can kill other snakes with its powerful venom; it uses its menac-

ing hood to warn off other animals.

The combination of im-mense body size and plenti-

ful, potent venom makes the king cobra a formidable hunter, and helps it defend

itself when threatened.

LifecycleTongue - The cobra detects prey by flicking its tongue out to col-lect scents from the air. Inside the mouth, the tongue passes over the Jacobson’s organ - a receptor that analyzes different scents.

Hood - The cobra spreads its neck to form a hood with a double chevron marking on the back.

The cat-sized Indian mongoose can survive a dose of cobra venom that would kill eight rabbits.

The king cobra’s generic name means ‘snake-eater.’

Snake-charmers usually perform with the Asian cobra, instead of the king cobra. The Asian cobra is more common, is smaller and has a broader, more impressive hood.

Did You Know?

Habitat

Breeding

Breeding PotentialThe cobra can breed at about four years

old.

Secretive snakesBamboo thickets pro-

vide cobras with shelter, nests and hunting

ground.

In January the male king cobra starts to find a mate, tasting the air with his flickering tongue. When he tracks down a female, he approaches her cau-tiously and rubs his chin over her body. The rough skin on his neck pacifies her and stimulates her into mating.About a month after mating, the female seeks out a secluded spot, such as a bamboo thicket, where she excavates

The king cobra is found mainly in Southeast Asia, where it frequents clearings, bamboo thickets and the bor-ders of undisturbed forest. In northern India, the cobra inhabits dense high-land forests, up into the foothills of the

Himalayas. Although it can climb trees with ease, the cobra rarely does so unless pursuing prey. In its range, the king cobra is also found on farmland and in the outlying parts of villages and abandoned buildings. As forest is cleared

for development, it is increasingly encoun-tered by humans.

a shallow, circular depression in the ground up to about 3’ in diameter. There, she deposits about 40 to 50 eggs and remains on, or near, the nest until they hatch, 70-77 days later. The female actively defends her nest site: female cobras have been reported even to chase intruders away from their eggs. The male, too, may stay close by for a while to assist in defense.When they emerge,

the hatchlings are 12”-25” long. Their venom, though produced in small quantities, is just as powerful as an adult’s. As soon as all of the young snakes have hatched, the female leaves them to look after themselves.

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Snake In The Grass1. Track. Flicking its tongue in and out for scent samples in the air, the cobra detects a small python. It then tracks the prey by sight.2. Coil. Slipping silently through the grass, the cobra approaches its prey undetected. It coils its forequarters in preparation for a rapid strike.3. Strike. In a single, smoothe action, the cobra whips its head for-ward and sinks its fangs into the python’s neck, injecting venom.4. Devour. When the venom has paralyzed the python, the cobra dislo-cates its jaw and ‘walks’ them over the victim, consuming it whole.

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Widespread, but not common, across South and Southeast Asia

-- Bangladesh, India, Burma, Thai-land, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,

Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines.

Where in the World?

PRINCE OF SNAKES

A juvenile is armed with its parents’ potent venom.

Food & Hunting

Behavior

The king cobra preys on other snakes and lizards. It will attack venomous snakes, such as kraits or other cobras, and non-venomous ones, such as small pythons.The cobra tracks prey by sight and by ‘tasting’ the air with its tongue. It strikes rapidly, sink-ing fangs into the

The king cobra is active by day but is rarely seen by humans. It can move quietly through vegetation and delib-erately avoids distur-bances. If an intruder startles the king co-bra, however, it rears its head, spreads its neck to form a menacing hood and sways from side to side, hissing. It can sway for several minutes and, unique

among cobras, can also move forward in this position. This is intended to intimidate and repel the intruder without the cobra having to strike. Occasionally, an intruder doesn’t retreat, and if the cobra is provoked or highly alarmed, it may bite to protect itself. The cobra’s bite is little use against birds of prey, which

prey and injecting a massive dose of venom that paralyzes the nervous system. Despite the quan-tity and potency of the venom, it may take two hours or more to subdue a reptile, whose body circulates the venom at a slow rate. When the cobra bites a warm-bloode animal in defense, such as

The king cobra is related to six species of the genus Naja, including the Egyptian cobra, N. haje, found across Africa; the forest cobra, N. melanoleuca, in African rainforests south of the Sahara; and the

Asian cobra, N. naja, which has a distinc-tive hood marking that looks like a pair of spectacles. The Asian cobra has ten subspecies, including the Indian cobra,

N. naja naja.

Related Speciesa water buffalo, the victim succumbs swiftly, because of its higher rate of circulation. Swallowing the vic-tim whole also takes time. Like other snakes, the cobra can dislocate its jaws and gradually work its meal into its long stomach. It then slips away to digest its meal.

swoop from behind to strike the snake’s head. By lying low in thickets, the cobra can hide from these enemies.

Part of the king cobra’s forest habitat is disappearing. In eastern

Asia, the snake is also killed to use in traditional medicine and to eat.

Although the widespread Asian cobra is responsible for more human deaths, and suffers greater persecution from

humans, the king cobra is still greatly feared and is usually killed wherever it is found. Although not yet endan-gered, the king cobra has few allies

and its population is likely to decline in the future.

Conservation

Creature Comparisons

The king cobra belongs to the family Elapidae, sometimes called the cobra family. There are over 200 species of elapid around the world, except Antarctica and Europe. All are ven-omous and have short, fixed fangs, but differ in habit and appearance. The coral snake flaunts bold colors, which keep animals away; the death adder hides under sand by day and hunts by night; and the green mamba rests hidden tree foliage.

Death Adder

Coral Snake

Green Mamba King Cobra