The king cobra, the world’s longest venomous snake, was first outlined as a species in 1836 by Danish researcher Theodore Cantor, who gave it the scientific identify Hamadryas hannah. Ever since, it was thought-about to be only one species till a brand new research outlined it as 4 completely different species.
A brand new research by P. Gowri Shankar, a wildlife biologist and the founder and director of Kalinga Basis, described the species as Ophiophagus bungarus, Ophiophagus salvatana, Ophiophagus hannah and Ophiophagus kaalinga. Out of the 4 species, the latter two are present in India.
Mongabay India caught up with the person behind the landmark analysis to dig deeper into the topic and his almost 10-year-long analysis undertaking.
Through the interview, Gowri Shankar talked about his close to dying expertise which led him to decide on this analysis matter, the standing of king cobra’s safety in India, contribution and involvement of individuals of Karnataka within the species conservation and challenges of executing a analysis undertaking unfold over virtually a decade.
Responding to a query about why he named one of many 4 species after the Kannada time period for the snake, Gowri Shankar stated, “I’ve been working within the central Western Ghats, notably in Karnataka, for a very long time. I’ve discovered quite a bit from the native folks. So in honour of them, I needed to offer the scientific identify kaalinga, which is, in Kannada, the time period for king cobra. I need your complete world to know the way these persons are linked with this species.”
Discover: Transcripts are machine and human generated and calmly edited for accuracy. They could comprise errors.
Mongabay India: What made you consider king cobras and why did you observe this explicit topic?
Gowri Shankar: After I began my fieldwork in Karnataka’s Agumbe, I began rescuing king cobras in folks’s homes. If there’s a king cobra in anyone’s home, we now have to rescue and relocate it, proper? Throughout a kind of rescues, I received bitten, and I needed to go to the hospital. And there was no antivenom for king cobra.
After all, I had an antivenom from Thailand, however I knew that it wouldn’t work as a result of it was completely different. It was from a distinct inhabitants. So when it didn’t work, I virtually died. However, I survived, and that’s after I determined to search out out whether or not they’re completely different species and completely different inhabitants.
Provided that we all know this basic query to be answered that there are completely different species, that’s whenever you’re going to provide you with completely different antivenom, species particular, area particular, antivenom. That’s the reason I selected this topic.
Mongabay India: Snakebites are a public hazard in India. And out of the ‘massive 4’, instances of snakebites from king cobras are much less. So does this research assist in discovering extra concerning the antivenom?
Gowri Shankar: Positively. You might be proper. Proper now, the most important drawback we now have is earlier than ‘massive 4’ venomous snakes. Such as you stated, spectacled cobra, frequent krait, Russel’s viper and noticed scaled viper. Near 58,000 or 60,000 folks die on account of snakebites in India yearly and greater than 200,000 folks completely get disabled due to the snakebites. King cobras don’t fall into that ‘massive 4’ or ‘massive 5’ or ‘massive six’.
Fortunately, they’re restricted to the Western Ghats and northeast and jap components. The great factor is folks right here within the Western Ghats, they coexist with them. They’re discovered solely in deep jungles, although there’s human animal battle, snakebites or the king cobra bites are very, very low proper now. But when this sort of developmental exercise (infrastructure growth) continues and the king cobra lose its habitat, in future they may turn into like cobra or krait or Russel’s or noticed scaled.
They we’ll attain that stage the place human and king cobra interplay can be up, and that’s when the snakebites may happen. So, there isn’t any hurt in realizing they’re a distinct species and looking for out and design a selected antivenom.
Mongabay India: Does this research additionally remedy a bigger conservation aim?
Gowri Shankar: Positively. As a result of, even in a number of the good habitats the place we now have tigers, leopards, lions or elephants, they’re the apex predators or apex animals or umbrella species. Utilizing that, we might preserve or shield your complete panorama. So equally, in case you see within the Western Ghats, we all know the inhabitants of tigers and leopards, it’s very low.
So king cobra might be that umbrella species or the keystone species, as a result of king cobra is an apex predator, it feeds on near 30 to 40 completely different species of snakes. Which suggests your complete meals chain and king cobra is on the highest of the meals chain. So king cobra might be used as a keystone species to guard your complete panorama and the Western Ghats, a extremely biodiverse forest in your complete world. So we now have to guard the species and the panorama.
Mongabay India: What sort of prey king cobra have and what’s the standing of the prey base?
Gowri Shankar: Like I discussed, they feed on near 30 to 40 species of snakes. That means, kraits, Russel’s, even pit vipers, pythons, you identify it and they’ll feed on them. So, if king cobra is there, which means your complete prey base is wholesome. King cobra additionally assist people, notably the villagers, in controlling the inhabitants of different snakes.
If there’s a good inhabitants of prey base which means the snakes and the frogs and the bugs are doing properly.
Mongabay India: On the subject of conservation, it can’t be achieved with out the group’s involvement. Out of those 4 species, you named two of them after their native names. May you inform us extra about that?
Gowri Shankar: Sure. I’ve been working within the central Western Ghats, notably in Karnataka for a very long time. I’ve discovered quite a bit from the native folks. These native folks right here in Malnad area are very intently linked, culturally linked with the species. They contemplate king cobra as their ancestors. And, there’s a perception additionally that if king cobra move by way of their plantation or paddy fields, they’ll get a bumper harvest. There’s lots of positivity. In addition they preserve them, they don’t kill them. So in honour of them, I needed to offer the scientific identify, as Kaalinga, which is, in Kannada, the time period for king cobra.
So it’s Ophiophagus kaalinga. That is principally to make our group proud about their cultural attachment with the species and their conservation efforts that they’ve been doing for hundreds of years now.
I need your complete world to know the way these persons are linked with this species. So I hope our Karnataka folks will really feel proud a few king cobra being named of their language.
And, the second species once more. Ophiophagus salvatana from Luzon. Luzon is likely one of the largest islands within the Philippines, and that is essentially the most endangered species as of now amongst these 4 species of king cobra.
So I named even that species out of their native language, Tagalog language, Salvatana, as a result of I need them to observe what we now have achieved right here within the Malnad area. I needed them to really feel proud the best way native Malnad persons are feeling proud as a result of they’ve to guard them, the group ought to be concerned. There (in Luzon) folks kill them on account of worry. Right here (in Malnad) folks have worry, however they’ve extra respect in direction of the species.
So I need this as a superb mannequin which can be utilized within the Philippines and Luzon. And the conservation standing goes up for that species.
Mongabay India: What’s the distinction you see between the practices the Malnda folks use or different folks use? What’s the standing of group’s involvement?
Gowri Shankar: There (in Luzon) the worry takes over. They simply unnecessarily kill them, they prosecute them as a result of they’re scared. And naturally, king cobra can be checked out like every other rooster or any wild meat. So meals, and pores and skin, as soon as they kill it, they use the pores and skin additionally for leather-based merchandise. The pet commerce for Europe and America, however fortunately no snakes from the Western Ghats are going into the worldwide market. The safety degree right here is kind of excessive, because of the forest division and the group who shield the species. Now that’s a giant distinction.
Mongabay India: You labored with completely different folks, in several international locations, completely different areas for this undertaking. What are the challenges of doing this sort of research and cooperation and collaboration with worldwide gamers?
Gowri Shankar: King cobra was found in 1836 by Cantor, and since then, many speculated there might be completely different species, however nobody established it. And so they took a very long time as a result of they didn’t have correct know-how at the moment. However, morphologically, folks knew they seemed completely different, however they couldn’t set up it. So with the current DNA work, I managed to say, they’re 4 completely different species.
Challenges can be accumulating samples; king cobra is a venomous snake, capturing them within the wild or anyplace and accumulating samples is essentially the most harmful factor you could possibly do. If it’s a frog or perhaps a chicken or any plant species, it’s straightforward to gather and take it to the lab and get the DNA achieved. However king cobra being the longest venomous snake is the most important problem.
We want their ventral scales as tissue samples to extract the DNA. So we now have to seize them and do it very scientifically. Together with that, we additionally collected samples within the zoos and museums touring throughout Europe and different international locations to gather the samples.
However the largest problem is monetary, funds, as a result of the analysis spilled over to eight years. It’s a really lengthy research. So it was a problem. And permits, king cobra is extremely protected in India and different international locations. Getting permits to gather samples was yet one more difficult factor, it took me two years to get the permits.
We had virtually 11 states in India to cowl. So in virtually seven or 9 states I managed to get the permits and picked up samples. These are the challenges I confronted whereas doing this undertaking. Now in fact, leaving the household, associates and spending extra time within the area or touring was one other problem.
