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 Distribution of the King Cobra
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The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length that can be as large as 5.6 m (18.5 ft).1 This species is widespread, but found mostly in forested region in parts of India and Southeast Asia. Its genus name, Ophiophagus, literally means "snake-eater", and its diet primarily consists of other snakes, including sizeable pythons and even smaller members of its own species. The venom of the King Cobra is primarily neurotoxic, and the snake is fully capable of killing a human with a single bite.2 The mortality rate can be as high as 75%.234
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Profile
The King Cobra is a large powerful snake, averaging 3.6-4 m (12-13 feet) in length typically weighing about 6 kg (13.2 lb). The record-sized wild cobra was shot in the Nakhon Si Thammarat Mountains of south Thailand and was 5.6 m (18.5 ft). An even larger cobra was kept captive at the London Zoo and grew to 5.7 m (18.8 ft) before being euthanized upon the outbreak of World War II 5 The skin is either olive-green, tan, or black and it has faint, pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body. The underbelly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth. 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 King Cobra is about 20 years.
Habitat
Widespread, but not common, across South and South-east Asia. It lives in dense highland forests.16 The snake has a preference for living in areas dotted with lakes and streams. King Cobra populations have dropped in some areas of its range due to the destruction of forests, but despite this the snake is not listed by the IUCN as in danger of becoming extinct. It is, however, listed as an Appendix II Animal within CITES.7
Hunting
King Cobras, like other snakes, receive chemical information ("smell") via their forked tongues, which pick up scent particles and transfer them to a special sensory receptor (Jacobson's Organ) located in the roof of its mouth.1 When the scent of a potential meal has been detected, the snake will continue to flick its tongue to gauge the prey's direction (the twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo); it will also rely on its keen eyesight (King Cobras are able to detect moving prey almost 100 m [300 feet] away), intelligence 8 and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey.9 Following envenomation, the King Cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim.1 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 independently of each other.1 Like other snakes, the King Cobra does not chew its food, instead it swallows its prey whole. The expansion of the jaw enables the snake to swallow prey much larger than its head.1
King Cobras are able to hunt at all times of day, although it is rarely seen at night, leading most herpetologists to classify it as a diurnal species.12
Diet
The King Cobra's diet is mainly composed of other snakes (ophiophagy): both non-venomous snakes such as pythons and venomous snakes including kraits and Indian Cobras.210 When food is scarce, King Cobras may also feed on other small vertebrates such as lizards, birds, and rodents. In some cases, the cobra may "constrict" its prey, like birds and larger rodents using its muscular body, though its been seen rarely. 110 After a large meal the snake may live for many months without another one due to its slow metabolic rate.1
Defense
If a King Cobra encounters a natural predator, such as the mongoose, which has some resistance to the neurotoxins,11 the cobra will generally try to flee. If all else fails, it will flatten its upper body by spreading its ribs, forming the distinctive cobra hood about its neck, and emit a high-pitched hiss, sometimes with feigned closed-mouth strikes. These efforts usually prove to be very effective, especially since the King cobra is more dangerous than other mongoose prey as well as being much too large for the small mammal to kill.
Shedding
Like all species of snakes, King Cobras shed their skin, typically four to six times per year as adults, and every month as juveniles. To get the skin to start to peel, the King Cobra will rub its snout against rough surfaces to encourage the shedding process.
Venom
King Cobra's venom, which is composed mostly of proteins and polypeptides, is produced in specialized salivary glands (as is the case with all venomous reptiles) just behind the animal's eyes. When biting its prey, venom is forced through the snake's half-inch (8-10 mm) fangs and into the wound. Although its venom is not the most toxic one, a King Cobra's size enables it to inject larger quantities of venom than most other species.1213 The large amount of venom in a single bite allows the King Cobra to kill faster, and to kill larger animals than other serpents. The King cobra can kill up to 5 times faster than the black mamba, so it just takes a few minutes to kill a human, and can even kill an Asian Elephant within 3 hours if the larger animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk. 1415
The King Cobra's venom is primarily neurotoxic and thus attacks the victim's central nervous system and quickly induces severe pain, blurred vision, vertigo, drowsiness, and paralysis.12 In one to two minutes, cardiovascular collapse occurs, and the victim 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 manufactures the other, however both are made in small quantities, and are not widely available.16 A protein component of the venom Ohanin causes hypolocomotion and hyperalgesia in mammals17 other components have cardiotoxic,18 cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects.19
Despite the King Cobra's fearsome reputation and deadly bite, it is a shy and reclusive animal, avoiding confrontation with humans as often as possible.10 There are other venomous snakes within this species' range, in fact, that are responsible for more fatal snake bites than the King Cobra, such as the Monocled Cobra, Russell's Viper .6
In Burma, King Cobras are often used by female snake charmers.10 The charmer is usually tattooed with three pictograms using an ink mixed with snake venom; superstition holds that it protects the charmer from the snake.10 The charmer kisses the snake on the top of its head at the end of the show.10
Related species
The King Cobra belongs to the family Elapidae. There are over 200 species of elapid found around the world, excepting Antarctica and Europe. All are venomous and have short, fixed fangs (proteroglyphs), but may differ widely in habits, behaviour and appearance. Four better known species of the Elapidae are the Coral Snake, Death Adder, Black Mamba, and of course, the King Cobra.
Gallery
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 South Indian King Cobra |
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mehrtens, John (1987). Living Snakes of the World. New York: Sterling. ISBN 0806964618.
- ^ a b c d Capula, Massimo; Behler (1989). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671690981.
- ^ "Ophitoxaemia (venomous snake bite)". Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Sean Thomas. "One most Dangerous Snakes in the World". Retrieved on 2007-09-05. "mortality varies sharply with amount of venom involved, most bites involve nonfatal amounts"
- ^ Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), ISBN 978-0851122359
- ^ a b Miller, Harry (September 1970), "The Cobra, India’s "Good Snake"", National Geographic 20: 393–409
- ^ "CITES List of animal species used in traditional medicine". Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- ^ Philadelphia Zoo - King cobra
- ^ Taylor, David (1997), King Cobra, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kingcobra/index-n.html, retrieved on 8 September 2007
- ^ a b c d e f Coborn, John (October 1991). The Atlas of Snakes of the World. New Jersey: TFH Publications. pp. 30,452. ISBN 978-0866227490.
- ^ Dr. Zoltan Takacs. "Why the cobra is resistant to its own venom". Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ a b Freiberg, Dr. Marcos; Walls (1984). The World of Venomous Animals. New Jersey: TFH. ISBN 0876665679.
- ^ "MSN Encarta: King Cobra". MSN Encarta. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ "Venomous African Snakes". Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ "National Geographic: King Cobra". Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ "Munich AntiVenom Index:Ophiophagus hannah". Munich Poison Center. MAVIN (Munich AntiVenom Index) (01/02/2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
- ^ Pung, Y.F., Kumar, S.V., Rajagopalan, N., Fry, B.G., Kumar, P.P., Kini, R.M. 2006 Ohanin, a novel protein from king cobra venom: Its cDNA and genomic organization. Gene 371 (2):246-256
- ^ Rajagopalan, N., Pung, Y.F., Zhu, Y.Z., Wong, P.T.H., Kumar, P.P., Kini, R.M. 2007 β-Cardiotoxin: A new three-finger toxin from Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) venom with beta-blocker activity. FASEB Journal 21 (13):3685-3695
- ^ Chang, L.-S., Liou, J.-C., Lin, S.-R., Huang, H.-B. 2002Purification and characterization of a neurotoxin from the venom of Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra). Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 294 (3):574-578
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