February 15 : It was a regular morning for people at Sallani, Dakshinkali, Ward No. 8, when they noticed a 2.5-foot-long King Cobra curled up on the fence lining the field.

The forest department was immediately alerted, following which the reptile was rescued and released in the Hattiban forest area.

It was a professional snake resuscer, Subodh Raj Acharya, who managed to safely extricate the snake.

The snake reportedly exhibited docile behavior, which made it “easy for me to capture it and isolate it until it was time for its release,” shared Acharya, who has already recused around five King Cobras.

They estimated the age of the snake to be about three years old.

As per Kamal Devkota, a snake researcher who was also present at the release spot, there are 90 varieties of snakes in Nepal.

King Cobra (also known as Raj Goman) falls into the vulnerable species category.Similary Devkota further informed us that the snake is highly venmous (releasing 7 mL of venom) and its anti-venom is available only in Thailand.

The snake, which is found mostly in South East Asia, eats other snakes as its main food, and in January and February, it’s their time to mat. Till now, the King Cobra has been found in 42 districts of Nepal.

The releasing operation was conducted under the supervision of Acharya, Devkota and under the guidance of Forestor Sushil Paudel, Daskshinkali Sub Division Forest Office.

Across the world, there are more than 3500 species of snakes, of which 600 species of snakes are only venomous.

As per various research conducted, there are around 79 to 82 species of snakes found, out of which, till today, in cases of medical importance, there are 18 species of poisonous snakes recorded, notified Acharya.

Snakes can be found in Nepal from 100m above sea level to 4800m above sea level.

Meanwhile, poisonous snakes fall under the Elapidae, Viperidae, and Colubridae families.

And under Elapidae, too many poisonous snakes fall, namely, cobras, kraits, and coral snales, whose neurotoxin venom is found.

Similarly, it is the python that is the longest and venomous snake found in Nepal.

Citing the data of WHO, Acharya said, in Nepal, yearly, 20000 cases of snake bites are recorded, while 1000 of them lose their lives. Most of the 26 regions of Nepal are mostly affected by snake bites.