Australia is home to some of the world’s most dangerous, yet
awe-inspiring creatures.
Take, for instance, the king cobra—one of the world’s most
venomous snakes—which can grow up to 18 feet long. Currently, the largest
recorded king cobra in all of Australia is a 13.45-foot-long snake named Raja
who resides at The Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales.
The 13-year-old snake, who weighs more than 17 pounds, has
actually grown over the past year, which is a good thing, explained Dan Rumsey,
the head of Reptiles and Venom at The Australian Reptile Park. "Weighing
Raja is essential, as it’s the first indicator of his overall health,” he told
petMD.
While a king cobra like Raja isn't the most venomous in the
world, his bite is nothing to mess around with. “A single bite is enough to
kill several people, or even an elephant,” Rumsey stressed. During a recent
milking session, “we estimated that the venom yield was somewhere between 400
to 450 milligrams,” Rumsey said. “To put this in perspective, a tiger snake
here in Australia (the fourth most toxic snake in the world) would only put out
about 45 to 50 milligrams of venom."
That’s why the park staff uses “extreme caution” when
handling and caring for Raja. “Handling a snake of this danger level takes many
years of experience of handling venomous snakes,” Rumsey said. “We keep contact
to an absolute minimum and only handle Raja when absolutely necessary. Working
with any species of cobra is all about being able to read the snake’s body
language and predicting its next move—that’s how the keepers know exactly what
they need to do next."
As much caution as there is around Raja, he has proven to be
an invaluable part of research, as well as the Australian landscape. “He has
sired two clutches of healthy king cobra babies, who are now living throughout
Australia," Rumsey noted. “Through this breeding program, we were able to
see the amazing king cobra mating ritual and watch Raja become the ‘Big Daddy’
of cobras here in Australia.”
So, if you’re planning to head Down Under, you can visit
Raja and see him up close and personal at the park. (From the safe distance of
being nowhere near him, of course!)
