The King Cobra, whose numbers have been decimated in the Western Ghats and parts of Southeast Asia where the m... Read More

CHENNAI: The King Cobra , whose numbers have been decimated in the Western Ghats and parts of Southeast Asia where the magnificent snake once thrived, has been declared a vulnerable species and placed on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

According to the latest IUCN report, 10% of snakes endemic to the Western Ghats, China and Southeast Asia face the threat of extinction. "Snakes are used in traditional medicines and anti-venom serum, as food, and as a source of income from the sale of skins," the report says.

"The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is listed as vulnerable due to a loss of habitat and over-exploitation for medicinal purposes," the report adds. The King Cobra, a religious icon in India and the country's national reptile, is the world's longest venomous snake.

According to Romulus Whitaker, herpetologist and founder of Madras Snake Park, the King cobra has been placed on the IUCN red list because of massive trade in its skin, meat and body parts for Chinese medicines in Southeast Asia. "The King cobra is killed in India mostly because people are afraid of them, even though very few bites have been recorded," he says. "Their rainforest habitat has been devastated."

Rainforests in the Western Ghats and in Indonesia and the Philippines once had large populations of the ecologically vital snakes, some specimens of which grow to 18 feet in length and weigh up to 12 kg, though the average length of the snake is 3 to 4 metres and its average weight is 6 kg.

IUCN revises its red list based on conservation efforts and population trends of a species. "There is no specific count of King cobra numbers in India, but it can be safely said that they have become very rare in most areas," Whitaker says.

The King cobra is protected under Schedule II of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act. "Anyone killing the snake could be imprisoned for up to six years," Whitaker says. "A study using radio telemetry is being carried out at Agumbe Rainforest Research Station in Karnataka to learn more about the snake to help in conservation of the species."

Involvement of local people in conservation plays a key role in protection of animals and this is evident in Agumbe, in Karnataka's Shimoga district, which records almost as much annual rainfall as Cherrapunji, Assam , one of the wettest places in the world.

"Because the snake is worshipped in the Agumbe area a relatively large population King Cobras live there in a landscape that is a mosaic of agriculture and forest patches," Whitaker says. Since other snakes are the primary prey of the King Cobra, it thrives in places where there are a large number of common cobras and rat snakes.

The King Cobra is found in densely forested areas of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu , Kerala , Goa, Andhra Pradesh , Orissa, West Bengal , Sikkim , Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh , Mizoram, Manipur and the Andaman Islands.

The IUCN has also listed the Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) as vulnerable in its native range, with trade and over-exploitation for food and skin, especially in China and Vietnam , posing a major threat to the species.