King cobra

Appearance

The king cobra averages at 3 to 4 m in length and typically weighs about 6 kg. This species is more slender than the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake and the Gaboon Viper, who compete for the title of the heaviest venomous snake, but at average sizes, it is much longer and will weigh approximately the same as the two bulky vipers.


The skin of this snake is either olive-green, tan, or black, and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. Juveniles are shiny black with narrow yellow bands.

The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance, though like all snakes, they can expand their jaws to swallow large prey items. It has proteroglyph dentition, meaning it has two short, fixed fangs in the front of the mouth which channel venom into the prey like hypodermic needles. The male is larger and thicker than the female. The average lifespan of a wild king cobra is about 20 years.

The dorsal scales along the center of the king cobra's body have 15 rows. Males have 235 to 250 ventral scales, while females have 239 to 265. The subcaudal scales are single or paired in each row, numbering 83 to 96 in males and 77 to 98 in females.

Distribution

The king cobra is distributed across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the southern areas of East Asia where it is not common.

Status

King cobra populations have dropped in some areas of its range because of the destruction of forests. It is listed as an Appendix II Animal within CITES.

Behavior

A king cobra, like other snakes, receives chemical information via its forked tongue, which picks up scent particles and transfers them to a special sensory receptor located in the roof of its mouth. This is akin to the human sense of smell. When the scent of a meal is detected, the snake flicks its tongue to gauge the prey's location; it also uses its keen eyesight , intelligence, and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey.

Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim. King cobras, like all snakes, have flexible jaws. The jaw bones are connected by pliable ligaments, enabling the lower jaw bones to move independently. This allows the king cobra to swallow its prey whole, as well as letting it swallow prey much larger than its head.

King cobras are able to hunt throughout the day, although it is rarely seen at night, leading most herpetologists to classify it as a diurnal species.

Habitat

It lives in dense highland forests, preferring areas dotted with lakes and streams.

Reproduction

The king cobra is unusual among snakes in that the female king cobra is a very dedicated parent. She makes a nest for her eggs, scraping up leaves and other debris into a mound in which to deposit them, and remains in the nest until the young hatch. A female usually deposits 20 to 40 eggs into the mound, which acts as an incubator.

She stays with the eggs and guards the mound tenaciously, rearing up into a threat display if any large animal gets too close, for roughly 60 to 90 days. Inside the mound, the eggs are incubated at a steady 28 °C. When the eggs start to hatch, instinct causes the female to leave the nest and find prey to eat so she does not eat her young.

The baby king cobras, with an average length of 45 to 55 cm, have venom which is as potent as that of the adults. They may be brightly marked, but these colours often fade as they mature. They are alert and nervous, being highly aggressive if disturbed.

Food

The king cobra's generic name, ''Ophiophagus'' is a Greek-derived word which means "snake-eater", and its diet consists primarily of other snakes, including ratsnakes, small pythons and even other venomous snakes such as various members of the true cobras , and even the much more venomous members of the krait family.

When food is scarce, they may also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may "constrict" its prey, such as birds and larger rodents, using its muscular body, though this is uncommon. After a large meal, the snake may live for many months without another one because of its slow metabolic rate. The king cobra's most common meal is the ratsnake; pursuit of this species often brings king cobras close to human settlements.

Defense

When confronted, this species will quickly attempt to escape and avoid any sort of confrontation. However, if provoked, the king cobra can be highly aggressive. When concerned, it rears up the anterior portion of its body when extending the neck, showing the fangs and hissing loudly.