Fealty to the King
These organizations have been protecting King Cobras, promoting conservation, and educating people about the value this unique serpent has within the ecosystem.
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) is a permanent field station of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, located on a 4.5 acre site, in the middle of Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and Agumbe Reserve Forest; approximately 1.5 km from Agumbe village, in Shimoga District of Karnataka. ARRS was founded by renowned herpetologist Romulus Whitaker in 2005, with the financial support of the late Doris Norden Chattopadhyaya and the Whitley Fund for Nature with the long term mission to study and conserve rainforests through applied ecological research, outreach programs and partnerships. ARRS employs a staff of 10. The administration and research team comprises of 4 people, while there are 6 employees from the local community.
A King Cobra nest was found very near a house with an understanding family who assisted in monitoring. The daughter, who is a zoology student, takes temperatures daily.
Wild Kings
VID-20200930-WA0020 (1)
VID-20200930-WA0020 (1)
King Cobra Swimming Video final (1)
King cobra M1 was translocated 30 miles from point of capture and spent months trying unsuccessfully to home back. Translocation is bad for kings!
Curiosity could easily have killed these cats. Luckily king cobras are snake eaters!
Ajay Giri
Ajay Giri gave an interesting, informative and educative session with 10th standard students of Karkala School who came for an awareness workshop in Sitanadi Nature Camp, Hebri, Udupi, KA. Thanks a lot to Hebri and Karkala forest department officials for providing me an opportunity to interact with the young minds to discuss about snake ecology and conservation.
Wild adult female, about 9 feet long, the location is Agumbe rainforest, Karnataka State, South India. Not radio-tracked, just one we found gazing down at us from a tree
Photo: Janaki Lenin
Sakaerat Conservation
The King Cobra Report
Colin Thomas Strine:
“King cobras in Thailand are woefully persecuted. They are killed by government officials even though they are protected by Thai law. Often seen as the most dangerous Thai snake, there is a major disconnect between the reality of king cobra behaviors and the perceived threat to humans. Every single school group the Sakaerat Conservation and Snake Education Team has surveyed listed the king cobra as the most dangerous and likely to bite humans of all snakes in Thailand. This fear, and recognition can be shifted to respect. By showing real behaviors near humans, and by displaying the story of these fascinating animals we can make a difference. The key has been long term exposure to conservation team members focused exclusively on developing the relationship between humans and these fascinating animals. Sakaerat Conservation and Snake Education Team firmly believes that humans and king cobras can coexist without persecution, and thus our fundamental value is education.”
Here is one of our radio-tracked males OPHA029 who was deep in shed upon his most recent processing. Such an amazing snake!
Tracked and Documented by Max Jones
