Cobra

Distribution: Northern India, southeastern China, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, and the Philippines

Size: 4 m

Weight: Up to 9 kg

Average lifespan: 20 years

Eggs per season: 20‒40 eggs

Diet: Carnivore

IUCN red list status: Vulnerable



Cobras are very large poisonous snakes and there are dozens of different species. They are known for their threatening hoods and intimidating upright postures when confronted. It is easy to see the hood when the snake spreads out special muscles and ribs forming a flat section of its body near the head.

Females lay between 20 to 40 eggs per season and stick around to defend them until they hatch. As soon as the baby snake hatches, it leaves the nest.

Cobras are normally opportunistic hunters but they often feed on birds, small mammals, lizards, eggs, carrion and other snakes. They follow their prey very silently through the wilderness until they are ready to attack. Most cobras hunt at dawn or dusk, though some species, like the king cobra, forage during the heat of the day. They can go for day or even months without feeding because they have a very slow metabolism.

They have a powerful poisonous bite because of its neurotoxic venom, which acts on the nervous system causing respiratory failure to preys.

This species is threatened by destruction of habitat and is harvested for skin, food, and especially medicinal purposes.