Cobra, any of several extremely poisonous snake species with a hood formed by the expansion of the neck ribs. While cobras are all known for their hoods, not all of them are related. Cobras may be found all across the world, from southern Africa to the islands of Southeast Asia. Different species are favorites of snake charmers across their range, who terrify them into adopting the upreared defense stance. The snake sways in reaction to the movement, and maybe also to the music of the charmer, who understands how to avoid the snake’s fangs and may have removed them. An enclosed groove delivers the venom in the short fangs at the front of the mouth. Cobra venom usually contains neurotoxins that attack the neurological systems of prey, which are mostly tiny vertebrates and snakes. Bites from bigger species, in particular, can be deadly, depending on the amount of venom administered. Neurotoxins cause breathing problems, and while antivenin is helpful, it must be given quickly after the bite. Each year, tens of thousands of people die throughout South and Southeast Asia.

The king cobra, also known as the hamadryad, is the world’s biggest poisonous snake (Ophiophagus hannah). It preys mostly on other snakes and may be found in jungles from India to Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia. The maximum confirmed length is 5.6 meters (18 feet), but most are less than that (12 feet). A nest of 20 to 40 eggs is guarded by king cobras, which are deposited in a pile of leaves collected by the female. If a predator or a human gets too close, the protecting parent will attack. Cobras do not all lay eggs.

Until recently, the Indian cobra (or Indian spectacled cobra, Naja naja) was thought to be a single species with a range similar to that of the king cobra. However, researchers have discovered that almost a dozen species occur in Asia, some of which spit poison and others which do not. They vary in size (the majority are between 1.25 and 1.75 meters long) as well as the toxicity of their venom. Spitters force air out of the single lung while contracting the venom ducts and pushing poison through the teeth.

There are spitting and nonspitting cobras in Africa, but they are not linked to Asian cobras, and they are not connected to each other. Spitting cobras include the ringhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) of southern Africa and the black-necked cobra (Naja nigricollis), a tiny variety found across Africa. Venom is precisely directed towards the victim’s eyes from a distance of more than two meters, and if not wiped away quickly, it can inflict temporary or even permanent blindness. The Egyptian cobra (N. haje) is a black, narrow-hooded snake that spans over most of Africa and eastward to Arabia and is presumably the asp of antiquity. Toads and birds are their preferred prey. Tree cobras (genus Pseudohaje) are the only arboreal members of the Elapidae family and mambas in equatorial Africa.

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