KING COBRA, the biggest venomous snake in the word - Most Famous King

it is early on a cool morning when the king of snakes embarks on a journey his is an ancient forest alive with creatures great and small like the king cobra himself many hover precariously close to extinction but on this morning the jungle pulses with the sounds of insects and birds a great indian hornbill delicately feeds his family hidden in their nest below through this jungle book world the king roams great distances despite the uproar his presence causes his world is mostly silent he has picked up the heavy footfalls of a nearby elephant even the mighty pachyderm steers clear of this serpent for just one bite may bring death but the king would strike such a beast only in self-defense for he feeds solely on snakes still the langers are cautious today the king is not interested even in snakes he is searching for something else something very important his eyesight is better than most serpents but he sees without color and only registers objects when they move he smells the air with his tongue so acute is this sense he can use it to find water and that's exactly what he's looking for today water is critical for the king is about to shed his skin he needs extra fluid to help separate his old coat from his new.

 it is an uncomfortable time for the king cobra a new skin is developing beneath his outer scales he must find a place to hide until it is time to shed the king is unaccustomed to his fragile condition it is an uncertain time at last he discovers a burrow and none of the forest's creatures wants to share quarters with the king for the next 10 days he will stay here irritable and tense he's sensitive to any movement nearby even the harmless wanderings of a turtle unsettled the king for his eyes have become cloudy from a secretion which helps separate his skins half-blind and vulnerable he is always ready to strike at last his eyes begin to clear a sign his new skin has finished growing the king is back but must still shed his old scales his spent skin is tight and itchy as he scrapes and rubs to relieve the discomfort his outer scales begin to peel. 

it is a remarkable transformation even his fangs teeth and the tips of his tongue will be replaced again and again during the course of his life when the skin over his eyes lifts away he is given new windows through which to view his world at 12 feet long and still growing the snake must endure shedding four or five times a year so hmm.

 his discarded skin makes a perfect meal for the smaller creatures of his realm in this kingdom, nothing is wasted after 10 days without eating the king is hungry a tree offers a good vantage point for spotting prey for his size the king cobra is an agile climber now he waits and watches a movement in the tree reveals another hungry creature a young hornbill its father has spotted something the king cobra watches the hunt unfold a vine snake ribbons across a nearby branch much smaller than the cobra this nimble hunter is no match for the hornbill. 

the little snake looks as fierce as he can but it is only a brave display his venom is mild again rat snake returns the attack let's pray he'll have no need to hunt but yet the king is restless it is now the dry season the time to find a mate a new intoxicating scent fills the air some of the rain forest trees have dropped their leaves and begun to fruit it is a joyous season for langers. 

across the forest the jackfruits are ripening their sweet pungent odor beckons it's an irresistible lure to creatures both small and great to reach the succulent flesh within the 20-pound fruit the prickly skin must first be peeled it's a messy job for even the most adept of elephants she leaves a veritable banquet in her wake this is a season when king cobras roam widely through the forest but today the king's subjects are distracted by the fruit they take only passing notice of his presence the king still seeks a mate and it's in this fruiting season that he's most likely to find one but it's not a female he encounters it's a rival a formidable male a potent threat he must be driven away each is capable of killing the other with a single bite a strange duel begins an encounter rarely witnessed and never before filmed rather than a fight to the death the battle has evolved into a ritualized dance to win one snake must force the other's head to the ground. 

at last there is a victor it's the intruder the king has been dethroned driven from his domain he must seek another but the rainforests of southern india are a finite land as people press in less and less remains for the king cobra our king has no choice but to leave the jungle fortunately for the king cobra water is no barrier he is a gifted swimmer . 

but what lies ahead for the king as the forest is cleared its creatures more and more frequently cross the border into a strange new realm the realm of civilization but surprisingly a tea plantation is a welcome sight to the exiled king here there is a thick vegetation and an the abundance of rat snakes but this is no haven for when king cobras and people cross paths there is bound to be trouble. 

just one glimpse of the legendary king can cause panic and shut down a plantation for weeks this cultivated land is not as rich as the king cobra's old domain but still he makes himself at home here yet he must be evicted if work is to resume at the plantation and even the king is no match for humans who are determined and armed fortunately for the king a special sort of hunter has been called in his weapons are simply a stick and a sack to the amazement of his audience in this part of India people know to call rom Whitaker whenever a king cobra is on the loose an American expatriate raised in india Whitaker has studied these snakes for over 20 years i'll leave the bag here you take that path okay careful huh yep i've been fascinated with king cobras all my life anyone who likes snakes knows that this is the super snake the snake of all snakes as i get to know it better it gets more and more amazing finding a king cobra in a tier state isn't very easy i spent 20 days tracking one down the bushes here are so thick that i have to get down on my hands and knees to see where the snake's gone. to it's a dangerous proposition even for Whitaker after several snake bites, he is now allergic to anti-venom the next bite could kill him .

 okay this doesn't look like a too good a place to do it with the serpent cornered the challenge now is to complete the capture without a terrible accident the king cobra tube was fragile beautiful i've been catching king cobras for quite a few years and I've evolved a system which is quite gentle to the snake when the serpent is trapped he tries to escape plunging toward what appears to be a dark hole he's gonna go in he's gonna go in open the bag let him whitaker is not just a hunter he's a leading expert on king cobras and each capture is a precious chance to learn more about this elusive species to take detailed notes on the snake whitaker has to remove him from the bag which is just as dangerous as getting him in but he must be removed to obtain a sample of his venom okay get the bag up okay the amount of venom this serpent can inject through his fangs is astounding one bite can deliver enough to kill a hundred people the procedure doesn't harm the snake his venom is simply saliva with a deadly twist a good venom sample okay should we release him the king cobra can produce an unlimited supply okay that's like a one i'm ready two three few people are actually bitten by king cobras for they are reclusive serpents whose home is deep in the forest and this is where whitaker makes his release far from the estates and people after his encounter with the human race the king cobra seeks refuge a patchwork of woods and open grassland this new home has all he needs shelter and food but there will also be other king cobras and now he is the newcomer cautiously he slides through the undergrowth he senses something up ahead a snake is it food his tongue picks up a telltale scent it's another king cobra but this time a female the king may have found his queen she stands on guard she may be ready to mate but her bite is deadly so he moves slowly he tries to entice her but his gentle overtures are rebuffed.

so abandoning the subtle approach he becomes bolder perhaps this will excite her with the female slow to respond the king's advances turn more urgent finally she begins to show interest sliding her long sinuous body against his .

 at last with their tails entwined they mate it's a lengthy affair this limbless embrace may last as long as three hours when the male withdraws his crimson penis the union is over the two will go their separate ways but the king has passed on his legacy it is april the season of serpentine unions and approaching rains clouds signal a difficult time ahead. with eggs developing inside her the female cobra needs to feed more frequently now in only 40 days she'll lay her clutch just before the monsoon breaks rising humidity brings forth a new generation of creatures. 

a hammerhead slug feels its way across the earth the female seems to be moving more slowly as her eggs continue to grow and her journey will become more uncomfortable yet [Music] for the moisture has triggered sinister stirrings on the forest floor . leeches the bloodsuckers of the rainforest come forth by the thousands for the past six months, they have been dormant in the soil now they are hungry for blood any blood from the moment they emerge leeches home in on virtually any animal that moves once aboard the serpent they make for the vulnerable gaps between her scales at this time of year hardly an animal in the jungle is spared this plague . as daylight fades there is at least some comfort with twilight the jungle becomes cooler in the brief dusk of the tropics one world prepares to sleep while another awakens .

 a multitude of tiny legs carries a millipede through the darkness beneath a jackfruit tree a porcupine makes an evening meal of fallen fruit on this moonlit night the female king cobra searches for a place to lay her eggs their survival depends on her choice temperature and humidity must be just right if the eggs are to hatch she sizes up a stand of bamboo her rustling startles the porcupine then something remarkable happens she begins to gather bamboo leaves with great sweeps of her body she starts to build a nest it is an extraordinary feat for a limbless animal to build a nest and the female king cobra is the only snake that does so it is an exhausting task as she toils a slender loris in the branches above begins his slow nocturnal search for food he takes only passing notice of the stirrings below the king cobra will continue to gather leaves for hours before she was ready to lay dolores is suddenly more attentive the rustling below has stopped it is well after midnight and the cobra is laying her eggs . 

the eggs will slowly whiten as their coating dries it will take the mother much of the night to lay her clutch of leathery eggs meanwhile, her upstairs neighbor has spotted a sleeping lizard it's a lucky night for the Loras with 18 eggs laid the mother cobra buries them beneath another layer of leaves here she will rest as the indian sun warms the forest again the cobra's maternal duties are far from over for the next two months, she will guard her nest from predators like the indian mongoose this plucky little hunter will try his luck with anything that looks edible . 

in a scene from kipling's jungle book it is the cobra against the infamous mongoose the mongoose is a notorious egg thief and one of the few creatures willing to challenge a king cobra head on . uh the persistent little mongoose angers the mother cobra towering three feet above him she has no need to strike she has made her message quite clear on this humid summer day others in the forest search for nests finding king cobra nests in the wild is really difficult so i've been offering rewards but still in 20 years i've seen only four people think that a king cobra on her nest is the most dangerous creature on earth but what surprises me is that they're actually shy and retiring all i have to do is gently prod the nest and off she goes but i know she'll stick around just to see what's going on this is a great chance for me to learn more about this wonderful reptile let's check out the condition of these eggs even with the mother guarding them some of the eggs won't survive oh here's a rotten one in this nest there are 18 eggs and a few of them will never hatch oh god there's leeches here too i'll chuck the rotten one away from you better get them off your hand before they start never bothered me 30.9 not bad pretty constant let's close it up when the researchers have finished their task they replace the eggs and rebuild the mother's carefully constructed nest only after they've gone with the mother return then she will resume her watch for another month a protective mother king cobra is just one of many challenges for scientists working in the rain forest i've been wandering in these forests for decades and although we do keep an eye open for elephants i've never been attacked by anything except the little creatures mites ticks leeches look at these suckers well as gory as it looks it really doesn't hurt very much oh that's a fat one look at that yeah . hey uh the fish are eating them pulling them off does feel a bit weird and of course you go on bleeding for hours but they don't really seem to do any harm soon leeches will be the least of anyone's worries for it is july and at last the monsoon arrives in earnest .

 sweeping in from the indian ocean it will bring as much as 30 feet of rain in a single season the lashing rain will test the king cobra's nest the deluge may last for weeks [Music] though the nest is battered it served its purpose the female and her eggs have weathered the storm after two months the mother's long vigil is over instinct tells her to abandon the nest before her infants emerge for she is a snake eater by nature within the nest her eggs are stirring with life their mother glides off to hunt her first meal in months her babies will now have to fend for themselves with a tiny sharp tooth the first one tears open its shell one by one the others follow soon the nest glistens with a dozen miniature king cobras complete with venom and tiny fangs for the first 24 hours the hatchlings remain near their eggs as they absorb their nutritious yolks and take in the world for the first time at last they start to explore their nest . the pencil thin babies are just 15 inches long but already they act like they're parents quick to respond to movement they spar with each other then instinctively most. 

beneath the other more cautious hatchlings the mongoose returns to the abandoned nest he's rummaging for leftovers he devours a king cobra that never hatched. in just a week one of the hatchlings sheds his skin for the first time he will shed every month for his first year since baby king cobras grow quickly now the hungry hatchling must search for his first kill in 10 years he may grow to 15 feet but only with luck for the forests of southern india are shrinking in such a changing world the hatchlings prospects are unsure. what will become of the little king will he be banished to the realm of legends remembered only in a storybook for today at least this mighty monarch rules the fragile forest for he is king