The Life of Animals | King Cobra | The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft). This species, which preys chiefly on other snakes, is found predominantly in forests from India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Indonesia. Despite the word "cobra" in its name, this snake is not a member of Naja ("true cobras") but belongs to its own genus. The king cobra can be highly aggressive and agile, delivering a large quantity of highly potent venom in a single bite. The King Cobra is a large and powerful snake, averaging 3 to 4 meters (9.8 to 13 ft) in length and typically weighing about 6 kilograms (13 lb). 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 The male is larger and thicker than the female. The average lifespan of a king cobra is about 20 years.
The king cobra is the sole member of genus Ophiophagus, while most other cobras are members of the genus Naja. They can be distinguished from other cobras by size and hood marks. King cobras are generally larger than other cobras, and the stripe on the neck is like the symbol "^" instead of a double or single eye(s) shape that may be seen in most of the other Asian cobras. The king cobra is distributed across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the southern areas of East Asia (southern China) where it is not common. King cobra populations have dropped in some areas of its range because of the destruction of forests.
When the scent of a meal is detected, the snake flicks its tongue to gauge the prey's location (the twin forks of the tongue acting in stereo); it also uses its keen eyesight (king cobras are able to detect moving prey almost 100 m [300 feet] away), intelligence and sensitivity to earth-borne vibration to track its prey Following envenomation, the king cobra will begin to swallow its struggling prey while its toxins begin the digestion of its victim. King cobras, like all snakes, have flexible jaws. The jaw bones are connected by pliable ligaments, enabling the lower jaw bones to move independently, enabling the King cobra to swallow its prey whole. The expansion of the jaw enables the snake to swallow prey much larger than its head.
The snake strikes rapidly and the attack range can be as far as 2 meters. The king cobra can deliver multiple bites in a single attack but adults are known to bite and hold on In spite of being a highly dangerous snake, it prefers to escape first unless it is cornered or provoked. If a king cobra encounters a natural predator, such as the mongoose, which has some resistance to the neurotoxins the snake generally tries to flee. If unable to do so, it forms the distinctive cobra hood and emits a hiss, sometimes with feigned closed-mouth strikes. The venom of the king cobra consists primarily of neurotoxins, but it also contains cardiotoxic and some other compounds.Moreover, king cobra envenomation is clinically known to cause renal failure Little is known about its venom. In the past, the in mice of the king cobra venom was treated as 1.6 mg/kg – 1.8 mg/kg, making it's venom one of the least potent among the elapids. Besides, this species is capable of delivering a large quantity of venom, injecting a 200-600 mg dose on average. A single bite from the king cobra can cause the death of an adult human in 15 minutes, though the average death time recorded is between 30–45 minutes after envenomation. It is regarded as one of the deadliest snakes.
There are two types of antivenom made specifically to treat king cobra envenomations. In Thailand, a concoction of alcohol and the ground root of turmeric is ingested, which has been clinically shown to create a strong resilience against the venom of the king cobra, and other snakes with neurotoxic venom The king cobra is unusual among snakes in that the female king cobra is a very dedicated parent. The baby king cobras, with an average length of 45 to 55 centimeters (18 to 22 in), have venom which is as potent as that of the adults.
