Stepping into this land, you may have to turn around because who knows, behind you might be a mischievous king cobra weighing nearly 50kg!

Initially revealed, this is a land area of ​​up to 16,000 km2, recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage .

There is a mystery, there are even animals that have not yet been discovered in this land.

We are talking about the Western Ghats.

Western Ghats (India), is a vast land area, surrounding the mountain range running along the southwest coast of India. This is a famous place known as the kingdom of tigers and king cobras.

King cobras appear quite commonly in Southeast Asia, however, in this land, king cobras are gradually depleted due to hunting and habitat narrowing.

Below are a few pictures of Western Ghats people “playing” with giant snakes:

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The Western Ghats are the wettest place on the planet. 40% of India’s water is supplied by rivers and streams originating from the Western Ghats.

This environment is suitable for many reptile species, including venomous species , with the king cobra dominating the species. Therefore, the Western Ghats are also considered the land of death.

The Western Ghats are considered the place where the largest number of king tigers remain in the world.

Preserving the king cobra in this land is very convenient, because the people of the Western Ghats respect the king cobra very much, consider them as gods, and never kill this snake.

In the Western Ghats, people have expanded their habitat into the “toxic” core zone. Residents build houses, clear forests for farming, and grow food, attracting rats to find symbiosis.

King cobras are cannibals and especially like snakes to hunt mice, so they also go to villages to hunt.

Each year, the king cobra changes its skin 4-5 times. After molting, they often find a warm place to hide. Of course, human houses are the ideal environment for them to reside, waiting for their new, stronger skin.

Snakes are big but not scary if people don’t make things difficult for them.

It happens every day that residents discover king cobras in the kitchen, in the bedroom, or on the roof.

People and king snakes can live together peacefully, accepting to let them reside until they have finished molting. Humans don’t attack them, so they have no reason to attack back.

The living environment is suitable and strictly protected, so the king tiger in the Western Ghats has very good growing conditions, reaching its maximum size.

They live up to 30 years and they never stop growing. That is the reason why you can meet giant king snakes here weighing up to over 50kg.

Scientists studying king tigers from around the world have come to this land and recorded that king tigers here can reach a size of up to 8m and weigh nearly 50kg.

The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world, its bite can kill a person in 30 minutes if not treated.

The venom of the king cobra is extremely terrible. One bite of a king cobra will kill an elephant weighing several tons. The amount of venom in the king cobra’s body is enough to kill several dozen adults .

However, there are very few recorded cases of king cobras biting people to death in the Western Ghats, because objectively speaking, king cobras do not attack humans unless people have bad intentions towards them.

King cobras are quite shy animals, they often try to hide and avoid confrontation when disturbed.

However, if provoked continuously, they will become aggressive. The king cobra will raise its head, expand its gills and emit hissing sounds to warn its opponents.

Most of its “threatening” bites are non-venomous, or it only injects a very small amount of venom through its fangs, to threaten humans. When cornered, it releases a large amount of venom. This snake has the ability to control the amount of venom while attacking.

Although scientists here attach tracking devices to giant king tigers, this king snake is still a mystery. Human knowledge about king cobras is still almost zero.

Currently, the king cobra is listed in Appendix II of the CITES convention, the IUCN list of threatened species.

In India, the king cobra is included in section II of the 1972 wildlife protection law. If you kill this snake, you can be imprisoned for 6 years.