--- title: "King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Up to eighteen feet of hooded crown, growling acoustic hiss, and specialized predator of other snakes." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/king-cobra-1.webp" published: "2026-08-31" updated: "2026-09-12" --- # King Cobra (*Ophiophagus hannah*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: Up to eighteen feet of hooded crown, growling acoustic hiss, and specialized predator of other snakes. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: 90s East Coast Hip-Hop & Boom Bap // A Tribe Called Quest, "Excursions" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/4tEaytMs86hIaOSsiGoLcP) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-IFrhuZT0) > **Vibe Match**: A snake-eating predator that growls instead of hissing, matched to the bass-heavy low end of The Low End Theory: calculating, unhurried, and lethally precise. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Ophiophagus hannah* - **Danger Level**: Deadly - **Conservation Status**: Vulnerable ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Can deliver more than a gram of neurotoxic venom, measured dry, in a single bite. - **Habitat**: Tropical forests, bamboo thickets, and agricultural borders across South and Southeast Asia - **Diet**: Primarily other snakes, including rat snakes, pythons, cobras, kraits, and vipers; it probably takes other reptiles and small mammals too when food is scarce - **Tags**: reptile, rainforest, apex-predator, venomous ## Natural History & Behavior ### 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. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is the king cobra the longest venomous snake on Earth? Yes. King cobras average three to four meters (about ten to thirteen feet) long, and the longest specimen on record, caught in Malaysia in 1937 and kept at London Zoo, had reached 5.71 meters (about eighteen feet nine inches) by 1939, making king cobras the longest venomous snakes in the world. *(Source: [Guinness World Records]())* ### What does the king cobra scientific name Ophiophagus mean? Ophiophagus translates literally from Greek as snake-eater. The king cobra specializes in hunting and eating other snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, including rat snakes, pythons, cobras, kraits, and vipers, though it probably takes other reptiles or small mammals when food is scarce. *(Source: [Tan, Bourges & Tan 2021]())* ### Can a king cobra really growl like a dog? Yes. When threatened, a king cobra does not just hiss: a 1991 study of the defensive sounds of 21 snake species found its growl consists solely of frequencies below 2,500 hertz, with a dominant frequency near 600 hertz, below a typical snake hiss's roughly 3,000-to-13,000-hertz span. Structural analysis of its airway suggests the growl is produced by tracheal diverticula, air-pocket structures in the windpipe that act as low-frequency resonating chambers. *(Source: [Young 1991]())* ## Sources 1. [Tan, Bourges & Tan (2021). King Cobra and snakebite envenomation: on the natural history, human-snake relationship and medical importance of Ophiophagus hannah. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases.]() 2. [Young (1991). Morphological basis of “growling” in the king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah. Journal of Experimental Zoology.]() 3. [Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 4. [King cobra, facts and photos. National Geographic.]() 5. [Cobra. San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants.]() 6. [Longest venomous snake (specimen). Guinness World Records.]() *Published August 31, 2026. Last updated September 12, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/king-cobra/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "Up to eighteen feet of hooded crown, growling acoustic hiss, and specialized predator of other snakes.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/king-cobra-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-08-31", "dateModified": "2026-09-12", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/king-cobra/", "citation": [ { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "King Cobra and snakebite envenomation: on the natural history, human-snake relationship and medical importance of Ophiophagus hannah", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2021-0051", "author": "Tan, Bourges & Tan", "datePublished": "2021", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2021-0051" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Morphological basis of “growling” in the king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1402600302", "author": "Young", "datePublished": "1991", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Zoology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1002/jez.1402600302" }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra)", "url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ophiophagus_hannah/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "King cobra, facts and photos", "url": "https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/king-cobra", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "National Geographic" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Cobra", "url": "https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/cobra", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants" } }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Longest venomous snake (specimen)", "url": "https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/468357-longest-venomous-snake-specimen", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Guinness World Records" } } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "King Cobra", "scientificName": "Ophiophagus hannah", "description": "Can deliver more than a gram of neurotoxic venom, measured dry, in a single bite." } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/king-cobra/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is the king cobra the longest venomous snake on Earth?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. King cobras average three to four meters (about ten to thirteen feet) long, and the longest specimen on record, caught in Malaysia in 1937 and kept at London Zoo, had reached 5.71 meters (about eighteen feet nine inches) by 1939, making king cobras the longest venomous snakes in the world.", "citation": { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Longest venomous snake (specimen)", "url": "https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/468357-longest-venomous-snake-specimen", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Guinness World Records" } } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What does the king cobra scientific name Ophiophagus mean?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Ophiophagus translates literally from Greek as snake-eater. The king cobra specializes in hunting and eating other snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, including rat snakes, pythons, cobras, kraits, and vipers, though it probably takes other reptiles or small mammals when food is scarce.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "King Cobra and snakebite envenomation: on the natural history, human-snake relationship and medical importance of Ophiophagus hannah", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2021-0051", "author": "Tan, Bourges & Tan", "datePublished": "2021", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2021-0051" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can a king cobra really growl like a dog?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. When threatened, a king cobra does not just hiss: a 1991 study of the defensive sounds of 21 snake species found its growl consists solely of frequencies below 2,500 hertz, with a dominant frequency near 600 hertz, below a typical snake hiss's roughly 3,000-to-13,000-hertz span. 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