Ophiophagus hannah
VENOMOUS
At hatching 430-500mm (17-20in)
Adults 3000mm (118in) Maximum 4750mm (187in): 5850mm (230in) in Thailand
Description
Scales smooth. Head broader than neck. Gray, black, dark olive green or yellowish brown, usually with white or yellowish cross-bands. Some forms in the Andaman Islands are deep rust-brown, unbanded and resemble Indian Rat Snakes: one was yellowish with black and white bands. Adults from Arunachal Pradesh are entirely bluish-black without bands. Head scales (in paler forms) often edged with black. Hood longer and narrower than that of the other cobras. Bands (if present) on hood and forebody are A shaped. Young (including those seen in Arunachal Pradesh) are black with narrow white or yellow bands that encircle the body and tail. There are probably several species grouped under this complex.
Scalation
Scales in 17 to 19:15: 15 rows, smooth. Ventrals 240-254; subcaudals 84-104; anterior scales entire, others paired. Frontal not truncate anteriorly, a pair of large occipital shields that touch, behind parietals.
Natural History/ Behavior
King Cobras seem to need conditions of heavy rainfall and inhabit thick primary forests and estuarine mangrove swamps. Also encountered in tea estates in South India and Assam. Common in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and the Andamans, where they are often encountered in secondary forests close to river banks and small waterways near human habitation. Snake-eaters, King Cobras sometimes kill and eat monitor lizards. Females build nests of dead leaves and stay with the eggs until they hatch (70 days at 28° C). Fast and extremely alert. The longest venomous snake in the world has an undeserved reputation of being quick to attack. It is mostly reluctant to display aggression unless provoked/ harmed. King Cobra venom is much less toxic than Spectacled Cobra venom, but it can inject huge quantities (up to 7ml) at a time. The only antivenom serum for its bite is made in Thailand. Fortunately bites are very rare since this snake avoids contact with humans. In the past 20 years, four deaths from King Cobra bite have been reported in South India.
Distribution
India: the Western Ghats (Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu), Uttar Pradesh (Terai), Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, and the Northeast (to Arunachal Pradesh) as well as the Andaman Islands. Also Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal all the way to the Philippines.
Look-alikes
Indian Rat Snake.
Yellow-banded Mangrove Snake.
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