Nest of rare king cobra found in Dang

By Gokarna Poudel, Tulsipur, July 22: A nest of the rare king cobra, a snake known for feeding on other snakes, has been discovered in the Ambe Community Forest in Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City-18.

According to community forest chairman Bhandari, local forest users discovered the nest near Jhakri Sota while searching for mushrooms in the forest on July 15.

Following the discovery, the nesting site was secured with the support of snake rescuer and conservationist Kuldeep Neupane, who has been involved in snake rescue and conservation work in the area for the past four years.

Bhandari said entry to the area has been restricted and people have been prohibited from collecting grass, firewood and mushrooms near the nesting site.

Om Bahadur Oli, acting chief of the Division Forest Office, Dang, said the office has stepped up monitoring and has been coordinating closely with the community forest users' committee to protect the nest. He added that the office has also been conserving snakes rescued by snake rescuers.Kuldeep Neupane has been regularly monitoring and caring for the king cobra nesting site.

According to snake researcher and conservationist Basanta Subedi, king cobras play an important ecological role because they feed on both venomous and non-venomous snakes. He said a decline in king cobra populations could lead to an increase in other venomous snakes, resulting in more snakebite cases and affecting the ecological balance.

Subedi, who is also chairman of “We Work for Conservation Nepal”, said the king cobra is the only snake species in the world known to build nests like birds by collecting dry leaves and vegetation. The female guards the nest until the hatchlings emerge.

According to him, a female king cobra usually lays between 30 and 40 eggs at a time, which hatch within two to three months. The king cobra can grow to more than 5.5 metres in length and is considered the world's longest venomous snake.

Subedi said that although the government has listed the python as a protected species, the king cobra, despite being vulnerable, has not been included on the protected list, resulting in limited public interest in its conservation.

Neupane, who has rescued and conserved around 3,000 venomous and non-venomous snakes in the area, said venomous snakes found near human settlements are rescued and handed over to the Division Forest Office for conservation. 

He has also rescued and relocated king cobras on three occasions after they entered houses in the Rampur and Balrampur areas of Ghorahi-2.