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King Cobra moulted skin

Ophiophagus hannah

Photo by AlbertKang
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Moulted skin of King Cobra - Ophiophagus hannah.
Found this freshly moulted skin during surface interval of my dives along a beach near a local village. The skin looks fresh and very complete. I laid out the skin in a straight line and it measures nearly 3 meters in length!

It seems it is possible to ID King Cobra - Ophiophagus hannah from the scales of the skin.

Notes:

When the local villagers were told of this Snake, they claimed that it is a Python and has eaten some of their chickens. Told them it is not likely a Python (haven't got the ID yet at that time). Since it was fresh, and found next to a house, they searched the house for it with the intention to kill it. I told them that Snakes are not aggressive to humans even though they are venomous and that it is 'protected' species with the hope that they will not kill it. Unfortunately, I don't think they were convinced :(

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)

Thanks, @Neil. Unfortunately, in most cases with snakes, its kill first and ask later :(
That's a very interesting spotting, Albert. Wonderful photos and a great story. It's very sad that people are so willing to kill what they don't understand. Let's hope this snake survived.

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