King cobra

The king cobra is a long, slender snake with smooth, olive-green scales and pale bands down its body. It lives in the warm forests of southern Asia, from India across to China and down through Southeast Asia, where it likes to be near streams, bamboo thickets, and quiet, leafy places. It is the longest venomous snake in the world, and a large one can stretch longer than a grown-up is tall.

Unlike many snakes, the king cobra is awake and busy during the day. It has big eyes with a golden ring around each one, and it uses its flicking tongue to taste the air and follow the trail of its favourite food. Most of what it eats is other snakes, which is how it earned its scientific name, Ophiophagus, meaning “snake-eater”. It also catches lizards now and then.

The king cobra uses venom to hunt. When it catches a meal, a bite passes venom into its prey so the snake can eat safely. This is simply the way it feeds itself, the same way a lion uses its claws or an owl uses its beak. In the wild a king cobra would much rather slip quietly away than meet a person, and it only spreads its famous hood, hisses in a low growl, and stands tall to say “please give me space” when it feels cornered.

King cobras are surprisingly caring parents. The mother is the only snake in the world that builds a nest. She gathers a mound of fallen leaves, lays her eggs safely inside, and then stays nearby to guard them until the babies are ready to hatch. The tiny hatchlings can look after themselves as soon as they are born.

There are fewer king cobras in the wild than before, mainly because the forests they need are being cleared for farms and towns, and because some are taken by people. Because of this, experts list the king cobra as Vulnerable, which means it needs our care. Protecting big, healthy forests gives this remarkable snake, and all the animals it shares its home with, the room they need to thrive.