Snakes
67 Results
Four New King Cobras Make Hisss...tory
Genetic and morphological analyses of king cobras from across their range reveal it is not a single species, but four distinct ones
News
SARPA – An App That Saves Lives
This innovative tech intervention, accessible to anyone with a smartphone, streamlines snake rescue efforts and minimises human-wildlife conflict
Wild Vault
Little File Snake: Facts, Range, Scales
All you need to know about these non-venomous aquatic snakes
Infographic
Coexisting with Snakes in Goa – A Utopian Dream?
A concerted effort by individuals and NGOs over the last two decades has increased awareness about snakes in Goa, reducing the number of snakebites and human and snake mortality from encounters
Conservation
Common Trinket Snake: Facts, Appearance, Habitat
All you need to know about this non-venomous snake
Infographic
Russell's Viper: Facts, Colour, Venom
All you need to know about India's deadliest snake
Infographic
Rough-scaled Sand Boa: Facts, Habitat, Threats
All you need to know about this non-venomous, burrowing thick-bodied snake
Infographic
Saw-scaled Viper: Facts, Habitat, Venom
All you need to know about the smallest of the big four venomous snakes in India
Infographic
What Lies Beneath: Rough-scaled Sand Boa
Also called the common sand boa, these non-venomous burrowing snakes are built for life underground, from where they can easily ambush small-sized prey
Species
Ornate Flying Snake: Facts, Range, Venom
All you need to know about this snake capable of gliding flight
Infographic
Playing Hide and Seek with the Saw-Scaled Viper in Goa
In the laterite plateaus of the Western Ghats, one of India’s most venomous snakes, the saw-scaled viper, finds a safe habitat
Species
Trinket Snakes and Their Treasured Personal Space
Though these nocturnal beauties are non-venomous, when threatened, they may rise menacingly and strike
Species
Pit Vipers of Northeast India
Of all the incredible reptiles found in Arunachal Pradesh’s Talle Wildlife Sanctuary, pit vipers are some of the most intriguing
Photo Story
Indian Rat Snake: Facts, Diet, Habitat
All you need to know about this non-venomous, fast-moving snake
Infographic
Spectacled Cobra: Facts, Diet, Threats
All you need to know about the most venerated snake in the world
Infographic
Yellow-lipped Sea Krait: Facts, Diet, Habitat
Infographic
Common Krait: Facts, Venom, Habitat
All you need to know about this venomous, nocturnal snake
Infographic
Friends or Foes: Kraits of India
Kraits remain somewhat of an enigma. Here's a peek into their world.
Multimedia
Vine Snakes: Facts, Habitat, Threats
All you need to know about these slender serpents
Infographic
Hump-nosed Pit Viper: Facts, Habitat, Venom
All you need to know about this nocturnal, venomous snake
Infographic
Little File Snake: The Silent Predator
Harmless to humans but often mistaken for a venomous sea snake, the little file snake lives mostly in brackish mangrove swamps though it sometimes wanders out to open sea as well
Species
Shot of Poison: Kraits of India
No other snake, except the king cobra, evokes as strong a sense of fear as the medically important krait does
Photo Story
Wildlife Puzzle: Green Pit Viper
Put together this jigsaw to see a fascinating pit viper in the Sundarbans
Interactive
King Cobra: The Ruling Serpent of Fields and Forests
The longest of all venomous snakes in the world is also very shy, unless it’s time to hunt
Video
The Land of Naga Bana
Herpetologist Gowri Shankar, who has spent a lifetime studying and protecting the king cobra, demystifies the remarkable relationship between serpent and human
Video
Indian Rock Python: Facts, Diet, Habitat
All you need to know about peninsular India's largest constrictor snake
Infographic
Indian Rock Python: Of Legends and Leather Bags
Though the law gives it the highest level of protection, stigma and fear continue to threaten the survival of this species
Species
Common Venomous Reef Creatures of the Shallow Seas
Among the multitude of fish on reefs are a vast array of venomous stingers. Though most use their poison in self-defence and to hunt, they will also strike at perceived threats
Photo Story
Studying Snakes through Radio Telemetry
Emerging as an easier and more precise way to track and study snakes than traditional observation methods
Wild Vault
Spectacled Cobra: An Unwilling Icon
Though worshipped, venerated, vilified, adored, and feared, this snake isn’t quite understood
Species
A Dog-Faced Water Snake’s Murky Life
Is it a dog? Is it a snake? Meet the dog-faced water snake. This unique snake gets its name from its compressed snout, which helps it survive in slush and salt. Watch this film of the nocturnal wanderer of the mangroves
Video
Indian Rat Snake: Nature’s Own Pest Control
An active, adaptable predator that keeps a check on many of the pests that thrive around us, this common snake also becomes prey for cobras, mongooses and raptors
Species
When the King Doesn’t Strike
Capable of immense restraint, the world's longest venomous snake is way more intelligent than we think
Book
Dog-faced water snake: Facts, Diet, Habitat
All you need to know about this mangrove specialist
Infographic
Checkered Keelback: Facts, Diet, Habitat
All you need to know about this freshwater snake
Infographic
At Home with Herps: Living with Reptiles
How a herpetologist fell in love with the natural world by observing snakes, lizards, frogs and other reptiles around his home
Urban Jungle
Snakes Can Be Friends Too
Wildlife cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty collaborates with the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust for a book that asks children to make friends with snakes, but from a safe distance
Book
The Wild Stars of South India
A smattering of creatures large and small that make an appearance in the latest field guide by the authors
Book
Eel Hunter: The Amphibious Life of Sea Kraits
With a specialised taste for eels, these venomous sea snakes hold their breath underwater for up to thirty minutes when on their perpetual hunting excursions
Species
Hump-nosed Pit Viper: Gem on the Forest Floor
Deep in the forests of the northern Western Ghats, Castle Rock is a hotspot for reptiles and amphibians, and the perfect location to find and study this elusive nocturnal pit viper
Species
Romulus Whitaker: A Life Less Ordinary
He’s hugged crocodiles, rescued snakes, and even snuck two king cobras on a long-distance train. Watch Roundglass Sustain Editor-in-Chief Megha Moorthy interview the Snake Man of India
Video
Hiss and Tell: The Dank, Slippery World of Water Snakes in India
Found in a variety of waterbodies, from streams and swamps to water-logged agricultural fields and the intertidal zone, aquatic snakes have a great affinity for water
Photo Story
Spot-tailed Pit Viper: The Covert Operator of Coringa
Behind the opaque mangrove curtain of Coringa, a covert operator waits, silently for days on end, for unsuspecting prey to show up. Meet the mangrove forest's ambush predator — the spot-tailed pit viper
Video
Evolutionary Anomalies: Killing and Eating Your Kind
When king cobras eat other king cobras — strange stories of animal cannibalism
Column
Urban Ecosystems: Snakes and the City
Unbeknown to most of us, snakes are often permanent residents of urban environments. We have to find the happy balance of human-snake coexistence
Urban Jungle
The Indian Egg Eating Snake Orders Food
Cartoons and illustrations on wildlife, environment, and conservation
Green Humour
Anamalai Wood Snake: New Species Found in the Western Ghats
Scientists had previously noted slight differences in the Perroteti’s wood snake found in the northern and southern hill ranges of the Western Ghats, but further analyses reveal that specimens collected from the Anamalai hills, in the southern ranges, are a new species altogether
News
The Dark Knight: Enigma of the Common Krait
Its reputation is deadly, but how does the common krait take your breath away?
Species
Dog-faced Water Snake: Sludge and Salt in the Intertidal Zone
With their home in coastal mangroves, South Asian bokadams have adapted to sidewinding their way through the murk and slush of their watery habitat
Species
I Want It All: The Checkered Keelback’s Game Plan
This semi-aquatic snake is ready to pounce on almost anything, even creatures it can’t really hope to swallow
Species
Marina Juliet: A Conservationist in the Making
Marina Juliet defies gender stereotypes as she trains to become a grassroots conservationist in rural Karnataka
Hero
Clash of the Titans: When the King Cobra Meets a Rock Python
In the world of reptiles, boundaries between predator and prey are sometimes blurred
Species
Petite but Deadly: Secrets of the Saw-scaled Viper
A relatively tiny snake with extremely potent venom and the ability to make loud, raspy warning sounds, make this one of the most enigmatic of the big four dangerous snakes of India
Species
The Skin of Many Colours: Morphs of the Malabar Pit Viper
Why it’s not easy to identify this snake species and the mystery of its diverse and changing colours
Photo Story
Russell’s Vipers: Predators of the Undergrowth
A radio telemetric study explores the life and behaviour of this elusive, cryptic and hugely misunderstood snake
Species
Malabar Pit Viper: Facts, Venom, Size
All you need to know about this stealthy, silent predator of the night
Infographic
Silent Knight: How the Malabar Pit Viper Hunts in the Dark
The Malabar pit viper is a study in stillness. It remains motionless, waiting for its prey for hours, even days. But when the time is right, it strikes with lightning speed
Video
Wardens of Venom: The Exquisite Vipers of South India
Tipping the scales in favour of some of India’s most misunderstood reptiles
Photo Story
King Cobra: Facts, Venom, Habitat
All you need to know about the world's longest venomous snake
Infographic
Leaf Masquerade of the Vine Snake
In the jungles of Agumbe long-held myths about the vine snake slither into the underbrush
Species
A New Vine Snake Called Proahaetulla Slithers Into View
In the Agasthyamalai Hills in the southern Western Ghats scientists confirm the discovery of an ancient species of vine snake
News
Anatomy of a King Cobra Rescue in Agumbe
Witnessing a kalinga snake being rescued, it becomes apparent that communication and cooperation are essential to conservation
Wild Vault
King Cobra: The World’s Longest Venomous Snake
How does the cannibalistic, snake-eating king cobra manage to multiply and survive?
Species
Malabar Pit Viper: Ambush in the Well of Life and Death
Occurring in an array of different colours, the nocturnal Malabar pit viper is a keen hunter that is endemic to the rainforests of the Western Ghats
Species
Secret Serpent: The Life and Times of the Malabar Pit Viper
Though it is the most common and widespread of pit vipers in south India, the Malabar pit viper is only seen in the wet season, disappearing mysteriously in dry weather
Conservation
Gowri Shankar: Snake Man Under the Spell of the King Cobra
In the heart of the rainforests of Agumbe there’s a man on a mission — to share his knowledge of the wild with students, and contribute to the preservation of reptiles
Hero
The Snake and I: Decoding the Work of Gerry Martin
Addressing snake-human conflict is just one aspect of herpetologist Gerry Martin’s goal of making conservation a way of life
Hero