Clash of the titans

Da Vinci

Elder Lister
When king cobra meets a rock python

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It was an early evening in April 2019. Summer was at its peak and the ground was parched. It was the time of year when king cobras start to breed and I had spent all day with the field crew, tracking a king cobra. At around 6.30 pm, while we were returning to the field station, we saw a few people gathered around a vacant plot of land. We wondered if they were looking at a king cobra combat — where two male king cobras try to pin each other down, and the winner is assumed to gain access to the female.

But we did not stop. We had hardly gone half a kilometre away when my colleague Ajay Giri called to tell us that he had received a call from a villager saying that there was a king cobra in an open field near a placed called Guddekeri. This was the town we were passing through and we put two and two together, and returned to the location where we’d seen people gathered. As we got down and ran, an incredible sight greeted us — an adult king cobra lay motionless while a medium sized Indian rock python had put a stranglehold around the king cobras head. The two snakes remained motionless for nearly 20 minutes. We thought the king cobra was a goner, but continued to observe them from a distance. By now, the news of the sighting had spread and people from all around came to watch. Slowly, the python loosened its grip around the king cobra and we could see its head. The king cobra had all the while been biting the python. After another 10 minutes the king cobra stopped biting it, and the python began to uncoil. This was the first sign that the two snakes were very much alive. Soon the king cobra began to struggle and spin, presumably a final attempt to escape the python’s noose of death.

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We had observed the pair for over 45 minutes when a light drizzle started. Summer showers brought much needed relief. We were all focused on the two snakes until now and when I looked back, there were nearly 200 people gathered to witness the spectacle. Many were scrambling to get closer and take a photo with their cell phones. We now has the task of crowd control, and began to ask people to keep away. All of a sudden, the python let go of the king cobra. That instant, people ran off, not wanting to come in the way of an escaping king cobra. Ajay quickly caught the snake and guided it into a bag that was already set up. The python was also placed in a bag, and both snakes were loaded on to the field vehicle. They were taken to a forested patch nearby and released. The python measured nearly two meters and weighed approximately four kilos, while the king cobra was approximately four metres long. When the python was examined at noon the next day, it was dead, possibly from king cobra venom. The king cobra however, had probably gone away in search of an easier meal.


My colleagues tell me that they have heard reports of king cobras feeding on pythons. In fact, there are well documented reports of king cobras feeding on the reticulated python in Southeast Asia. It is no doubt that king cobras do occasionally consume large prey such as monitor lizards or even pythons. One cannot but wonder how the snake is able to make dynamic decisions and evaluate the risks and gains of pursuing prey such as a rock python, which can potentially kill the cobra by constricting it. It is an indication that snakes are very indeed smart, intelligent creatures.

Studies such as the king cobra radio-telemetry project are essential to understand their ecology. Gathering information helps us convince people that they mean us no harm, but in fact, help us by keeping the population of other venomous snakes in check. That’s all the more reason to respect, revere, and, let the king cobra be.

 
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