King Cobra

The world's largest venomous snake native to India and SE Asia inhabits forests, especially near water; eats snakes and monitor lizards. female builds nest on ground and coils on top to incubate eggs also known as hamadryad.The King Cobra is the largest of the venomous land snakes, growing up to 18.5 ft in length. However, as they are generally slender, King Cobras usually do not exceed 44 lb . Its venom is a neurotoxin, capable of killing a human. The mortality rate can be as high as 75%, but most bites involve nonfatal amounts. Although called a cobra, it does not belong to the same genus as the so-called "true" cobras. The King Cobra is peculiar in that it feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, which is reflected in both its common name and its genus name and is even known to attack larger snakes, including pythons. In spite of the King Cobra's fearsome reputation, however, 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.