King Cobra

The Lowdown

Able to reach eighteen feet, the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the longest venomous snake on the planet. Its genus name, Ophiophagus, literally translates to “snake-eater”, reflecting its predatory specialty: hunting and eating other snakes, including venomous vipers, kraits, and pythons.

When confronted, the king cobra can lift up to a third of its body off the ground, in some cases high enough to look an adult human in the eye, while flaring its wide ribbed neck hood. Rather than a typical snake hiss, it lets out a deep growl that sounds almost like a dog’s. Structural analysis of its airway suggests the sound comes from tracheal diverticula, air-pocket structures in the windpipe that act as low-frequency resonating chambers.

A nest of leaves Female king cobras build a nest, pushing leaves and branches into a pile where the heat of rotting plants incubates the eggs, then stay on top to guard them.

One bite can deliver more than a gram of neurotoxic venom, measured dry. Yet despite all that venom, field scientists often describe king cobras as placid snakes that would rather put on a threat display than attack.