The Urgent Need to Protect the King Cobra

Raipur | Correspondent: World’s longest venomous snake King Cobra redefines itself by classifying it into four distinct species.

A team of P Gowri Shankar, Herpetologist have identified these species based on their geographic distribution, which includes Mainland Asia, much of Maritime Southeast Asia, the Western Ghats in India, and Luzon, the main northern island of the Philippines.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies this snake as “Vulnerable”.

One of the species of King Cobra also known as Ophiophagus Hannah is found the dense forests of Korba district of Chhattisgarh.

A total of 31 nesting sites for king cobras have been identified in the Korba forest range.

The King Cobra is found only in Korba and faces serious threats from habitat loss and human activities.

For the past four to five years, the forest department, in collaboration with the Nova Nature Welfare Society, has been studying the King Cobra’s habitat and population.

First King Cobra spotted in Chhattisgarh

After the formation of Chhattisgarh state, the first recorded sighting of a King Cobra was on 22 February, 2014.

It was discovered in the dry habitats at the Kudmura Range Forest Office in the Korba Forest Division.

It was an adult female, measuring about 3.6 meters in length. After being captured, the snake was released at Raja Pahari, a dense, undisturbed forest area about 20 km from Kudmura village.

Locals had previously reported seeing similar snakes in that area, making it an ideal release site.