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The king cobra is a poisonous snake species of the elapids family that is only found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. It is the only cobra in the genus Ophiophagus, and it is distinguished from other cobras by its size and neck markings. With an average length of 3.18 to 4 m (10.4 to 13.1 ft) and a maximum length of 5.85 m, the king cobra is the world’s longest poisonous snake (19.2 ft). The color of its skin varies according on the environment, ranging from black with white streaks to a uniform brownish grey. It mostly eats other snakes, even its own kind. It seldom hunts non-reptile creatures like rodents and lizards, unlike other snakes.

The king cobra’s threat show comprises widening its neck-flap, lifting its head erect, puffing, and hissing, just like most cobras and mambas. Despite its fearsome reputation, the king cobra prefers to avoid human contact if possible. When provoked, it is capable of striking a target from a great distance and from a great height. Instead of biting and fleeing, it may hold its bite and inject a huge amount of venom, causing a medical problem.

This species, which is considered India’s national reptile, holds a prominent place in Indian mythology and folklore, as well as Sri Lankan and Myanmarese folklore. The king cobra has been categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2010, due to habitat degradation.

Hamadryas hannah was the scientific name given to four king cobra specimens taken in the Sundarbans and one near Kolkata by Danish naturalist Theodore Edward Cantor in 1836. Hermann Schlegel, who described a king cobra zoological specimen from Java in 1837, offered the name Naja bungarus. Cantor suggested the name Hamadryas ophiophagus for the king cobra in 1838, explaining that it exhibits dental characteristics that fall in between Naja and Bungarus. Walter Elliot offered Naia vittata in 1840, which was a king cobra captured offshore near Chennai and floating in a basket. Albert Günther proposed Hamadryas elaps in 1858 based on king cobra specimens from the Philippines and Borneo. Both N. bungarus and N. vittata were termed H. elaps by Günther. Günther proposed the genus Ophiophagus in 1864. Its name comes from its proclivity for eating snakes.

Naja ingens, a king cobra collected in Tebing Tinggi in northern Sumatra, was presented by Alexander Willem Michiel van Hasselt in 1882.

Charles Mitchill Bogert, who maintained that it differed considerably from Naja species, recognized Ophiophagus hannah as a legitimate name for the king cobra in 1945. The king cobra, rather than the Naja cobras, was an early branch of a genetic lineage that gave rise to the mambas, according to cytochrome b and multigene research.

A phylogenetic examination of mitochondrial DNA revealed that specimens from the southern Thai provinces of Surattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat form a distinct clade from those from northern Thailand, which were grouped with specimens from Myanmar and Guangdong in southern China.

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