IFS officer shares rare picture of King Cobra eating another snake; image goes viral

Nature blows away people’s minds every now and then. Thanks to the internet, many pictures and videos often showcase an amusing side of nature. Twitter users have now got to know that King Cobras eat other snakes as well. A rare picture of a Cobra eating another cobra is now going viral on social media. IFS officer Parveen Kaswan, who is known for raising awareness about forest and conversation by posting interesting science facts on Twitter, recently posted a picture in which the reptile is seen feeding onto a spectacled cobra (Indian cobra). The spectacular photo clicked by him has captivated everyone’s attention online. The caption reads, “Ophiophagus hannah. A king cobra eating a spectacled cobra. They feed on lesser mortals”.

Explaining the meaning of Ophiophagus Hannah in another tweet, Kaswan shared that it is the scientific name of King Cobra seen in the viral picture. The meaning of’Ophiophagus’ in greek is ‘snake-eating’ while the word ‘hannah’ is derived from tree-dwelling nymphs’ name in Greek mythology. He further wrote, “So king living true to its name. The only snake which builds nests”.

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Posted on 19 July, the picture has received 1,941 likes on Twitter till now. For the unversed, King Cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world. The average length of a kind cobra is from 3.18 to 4 metres while it can reach up to 5.85 metres. They hardly hunt for vertebrates like rodents and lizards, unlike other snakes.