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    King Cobra

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    The King Cobra is the largest venomous snake, growing up to 18.5 feet long. It lives in forests throughout Southeast Asia. While it is called a cobra, it is actually in its own genus. The King Cobra feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, using its excellent eyesight and sense of smell to hunt. It has a powerful neurotoxin venom that is frequently fatal to humans if untreated. It will usually avoid confrontation and is generally a shy species.

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    King Cobra

    Uploaded by

    api-3839878
    999 views4 pages
    The King Cobra is the largest venomous snake, growing up to 18.5 feet long. It lives in forests throughout Southeast Asia. While it is called a cobra, it is actually in its own genus. The King Cobra feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, using its excellent eyesight and sense of smell to hunt. It has a powerful neurotoxin venom that is frequently fatal to humans if untreated. It will usually avoid confrontation and is generally a shy species.

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    The King Cobra is the largest venomous snake, growing up to 18.5 feet long. It lives in forests throughout Southeast Asia. While it is called a cobra, it is actually in its own genus. The King Cobra feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, using its excellent eyesight and sense of smell to hunt. It has a powerful neurotoxin venom that is frequently fatal to humans if untreated. It will usually avoid confrontation and is generally a shy species.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    999 views4 pages

    King Cobra

    Uploaded by

    api-3839878
    The King Cobra is the largest venomous snake, growing up to 18.5 feet long. It lives in forests throughout Southeast Asia. While it is called a cobra, it is actually in its own genus. The King Cobra feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, using its excellent eyesight and sense of smell to hunt. It has a powerful neurotoxin venom that is frequently fatal to humans if untreated. It will usually avoid confrontation and is generally a shy species.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    King Cobra

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    (Redirected from King cobra)


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    iKing Cobra

    Scientific classification
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Class: Reptilia
    Order: Squamata
    Suborder: Serpentes
    Family: Elapidae
    Genus: Ophiophagus
    Species: O. hannah
    Binomial name
    Ophiophagus hannah
    Cantor, 1836

    The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the longest of the venomous land snakes,
    growing up to 18.5 feet (5.7 meters) in length. Because they are slender, however,
    these snakes usually do not exceed 20 kg (44 lb). The snake's venom is a powerful
    neurotoxin known to be frequently fatal to humans. The mortality rate in untreated
    King Cobra bites is 75%. Although called a Cobra it does not belong to the same
    genus (Naja) as "true" cobras. The King Cobra is peculiar in that it feeds almost
    exclusively on other snakes, which is reflected in its genus name of Ophiophagus
    (Snake eater). The King Cobra is known to attack larger snakes, including pythons. In
    spite of the King Cobra's fearsome reputation, it is generally a shy and reclusive
    animal, avoiding confrontation with people as much as possible. There are many
    smaller venomous snakes within this species' range that are responsible for a far
    greater number of fatal snake bites.
    Like cobras, the king cobra lifts around a third of its body off the ground, makes a
    hood, and hisses loudly when it feels threatened. A fully-grown King Cobra would
    therefore be able to stare at a standing human directly in the eye, making it a
    terrifying sight and giving it a near-mythical reputation as a deadly snake.

    Contents
    [hide]

    • 1 Habitat
    • 2 Hunting, diet and venom
    • 3 Gallery
    • 4 References

    • 5 External links

    [edit] Habitat
    The King Cobra lives in much of mainland India, southern China, Malaysia, the
    Philippines, and throughout the dense highland forests of southeastern Asia. In the
    mountainous regions of India, king cobras have been known to live in altitudes
    exceeding 6,500 feet (approx. 2000m) above sea level. The snake has a preference for
    living in areas dotted with lakes and streams, and is an excellent swimmer. King
    Cobra populations have dropped in some areas of its range due to the destruction of
    forests, but despite this the snake is in no danger of becoming extinct.

    Scalation of the King Cobra

    [edit] Hunting, diet and venom


    King cobras, like all other snakes, smell using their forked tongue which picks up the
    preys scent particles and transfers them to a special sensory receptor (Jacobson's
    Organ), located in the roof of its mouth. When the scent of a potential meal has been
    detected, the snake will continue to flicker its tongue to guage the preys direction (the
    twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo) the snake will also rely on its excellent
    eyesight (able to detect moving prey almost 328 feet (100 meters) away), sensitivity
    to vibrations, and outstanding intelligence (compared to that of other cobra species) to
    track its prey. Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its
    struggling prey whole (due to a lack of serrated cutting teeth) while toxins begin
    digesting the victim. King cobras, as with all other snakes, do not have rigidly fixed
    jaws. Instead the jaw bones are connected by extremely pliable ligaments, enabling
    the lower jaw bones to move independantly of each other. This enables all snakes to
    swallow prey much larger than their head size.

    The king cobra's diet is mainly composed of other snakes (ophiophagy). When food is
    scarce though, king cobras will also feed on other small vertebrates, such as lizards.
    After a large meal the snake may live for many months without another meal due to a
    very slow metabolic rate. King cobras are able to hunt at all times of day, although it
    is rarely seen at night, leading some to erroneously classify it as a diurnal species.

    If a king cobra encounters a threatening natural predator, such as the mongoose,


    which while not immune to the snake's venom has some resistance to the
    neurotoxins,[1] the cobra will generally try to flee. If all else fails, the cobra will flatten
    its upper ribs forming a hood around its neck and emit a high-pitched hiss, sometimes
    with feigned closed-mouth strikes.

    King cobra venom, which is composed mostly of proteins and polypeptides, is


    produced in specialized salivary glands just behind the animal's eyes. When the king
    cobra bites its prey, venom is forced through the snake's half-inch-long (8-10 mm)
    fangs and into the wound. A king cobra is capable of injecting more venom than any
    other snake except the gaboon viper. In fact, a king cobra can deliver enough venom
    to kill a full-grown Asian Elephant in 3 hours.

    King cobra venom attacks the victim's nervous system and quickly induces severe
    pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis. In the minutes following,
    cardiovascular collapse occurs, and the prey falls into a coma. Death soon follows due
    to respiratory failure. There are two types of antivenin made specifically to treat king
    cobra envenomations. The Red Cross in Thailand manufactures one, and the Central
    Research Institute in India [1]manufactures another. Both are made in small quantity,
    and are not widely available.[2] Several studies indicate that the annual mortality
    incidence in India is still 5.6-12.6 per 100,000 of population.[citation needed]

    Drop for drop the king cobra's venom is less lethal than many other snakes, including
    that of rattlesnakes, kraits, mambas and the common cobra, but the volume injected
    can be as much as .2 fluid ounces (7 mL), which makes up for lack of potency and is
    enough to kill 20-30 people.[citation needed]

    [edit] Gallery
    St. Louis Zoo
    Adult Male King Cobra,
    Ophiophagus hannah
    Juvenile King Cobra, Ophiophagus
    hannah

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