Viral Video: IFS officer shares video of King Cobra ‘standing up’, leaves internet stunned

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda has put out a video displaying a huge King Cobra raising its body and spreading its hood, leaving netizens stunned by its massive height. Nanda noted that the reptile can literally “stand up and look a person in the eye”.

The video displays the snake on top of a muddy slope with its hood raised high. As it stares at a certain point, its tail lies long on the ground.

“The king cobra can literally ‘stand up’ and look at a full-grown person in the eye. When confronted, they can lift up to a third of its body off the ground,” Nanda tweeted.

Here's the video: 

Since being shared, the video has gathered over 66,500 views on Twitter. Netizens had mixed feelings over the sight of the snake. While they marvelled at its size and beauty, they were terrified at the same time. A user commented, “Dangerous beauty!” Another user wrote, “Oh. Absolutely scary.” A third user wrote, “Pretty, but going to close my windows now.”

In 2021, a video showing a King Cobra raising its hood to almost 4 feet in height during a rescue operation had gone viral. The rescuer held the snake by its tail and the reptile swiftly retaliated. The snake was spotted inside a bathroom in Karnataka’s Belthangady and was later released into a forest.

According to a report by the National Geographic, cobras can turn aggressive when they are hungry or threatened. While tackling a predator, they expand their hood which will appear large. It can grow up to 18 feet long and a toxic bite is poisonous enough to kill an elephant.

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