Meria
Elder Lister
A majestic cobra, the ’calico phase’ of the Egyptian Cobra (Naja haje).
Large dangerous elapid with a fast acting neurotoxic venom that causes paralysis. Antivenom is the key treatment here and bite victims should be treated in a well equipped hospital with the possibility to ventilate a patient.
There are two main populations in East Africa. One occurs in north-west, north central and south-eastern Uganda, to Mt. Elgon and Bungoma county in Kenya. The other population occurs in Naivasha in Kenya, south to the Ngong Hills, east to Nairobi and Thika, further south to Kajiado and to Amboseli and Tsavo West, entering Tanzania south of Mt. Kilimanjaro at Moshi, to Arusha west past Lake Eyasi and north into central Serengeti. One isolated population occurs in Kenya in the Samburu National Reserve and eastern Laikipia.
This species seems to be active at day and night. Usually basking in the sun at daytime, lives in wood holes, rodents burrows, termite mounds and rock crevices. A nervous species, fast moving, rears up and spreads a hood quickly.
Large dangerous elapid with a fast acting neurotoxic venom that causes paralysis. Antivenom is the key treatment here and bite victims should be treated in a well equipped hospital with the possibility to ventilate a patient.
There are two main populations in East Africa. One occurs in north-west, north central and south-eastern Uganda, to Mt. Elgon and Bungoma county in Kenya. The other population occurs in Naivasha in Kenya, south to the Ngong Hills, east to Nairobi and Thika, further south to Kajiado and to Amboseli and Tsavo West, entering Tanzania south of Mt. Kilimanjaro at Moshi, to Arusha west past Lake Eyasi and north into central Serengeti. One isolated population occurs in Kenya in the Samburu National Reserve and eastern Laikipia.
This species seems to be active at day and night. Usually basking in the sun at daytime, lives in wood holes, rodents burrows, termite mounds and rock crevices. A nervous species, fast moving, rears up and spreads a hood quickly.