A popular Hong Kong beach was visited by a two-metre king cobra last weekend, although most people who saw it had no idea that they were looking at one of the most lethal snakes in the world.
(Pictures by Martin Megino)
A large crowd of day trippers were spread across one of the territory’s longest and best beaches on Lantau island, when some people saw the reptile swim out of the water.
Concerned bathers on Pui O beach called the police, who soon arrived and cordoned off an area to give the snake a wide birth, although it was mistakenly identified as a python at the time.
When I arrived to take photographs, a policeman warned me against crossing the cordon, saying that I would scare it back into the sea. We assumed that they were waiting for an officer from the Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department to catch the snake, in line with its conservation policy of relocating pythons to designated sites.
Dozens of beach-goers, including mesmerised children and their awestruck parents, looked on at the enormous beast, which seemed alert, but mostly untroubled in its chosen resting spot on the grey sand.
According to an AFCD field-guide on poisonous snakes, the king cobra is “regarded by some experts as the most dangerous snake in the world.”
But when snake catchers hadn’t arrived by dark, the police threw sand at cobra to drive it back into the sea, as day trippers packed up, and campers at the back of the beach started preparing their evening meals.
Two days later we got a positive identification from a recommended snake expert.
“It’s a king cobra,” Michael Lau of local conservation NGO, Kadoorie farm, told us after looking at my colleague, Martin Megino’s excellent close-ups.
“The hood will only appear when it is threatened or about to strike,” he told us, noting that it had an unusual colour pattern, unlike any of the local cobras he had seen.
Although king cobras are endemic in Hong Kong, they are not common, and Lau said that the beach was an unusual place for it to be. He said one explanation could be that it was a “market snake” that had escaped a boat.
Nearly 6,000 snakes were legally imported into Hong Kong last year, according to a spokesperson from the AFCD, though this number is much lower than the 17,000 odd of the previous year and the 32,000 of 2006.
Lau said that king cobras would cost “thousands of dollars” on the local market, which wouldn’t be surprising considering their iconic status as well as the endangered listing within the territory.
Their import numbers are very low compared to the overall snake trade. Only thirteen were legally imported to Hong Kong in the years 2006 and 2007, all of them from Malaysia. None were registered last year.
That would make our mystery visitor on the Pui O beach a very rare and valuable commodity.
Certainly not "the most dangerous snake in the world". In fact very few people have ever been bitten by a King Cobra. It's generally a very shy and relatively intelligent snake that keeps out of peoples way. They rarely break cover if anyone is around and will often wait to move on, until there is no one present, then making a quick and silent exit. The by comparison tiny strike happy Russel's viper is possibly the most dangerous snake in the world which bites and kills many many people. It does no good to sensationalise the King Cobra's danger, it's already endangered in many areas due to indiscriminate killing. It is an incredible beautiful large snake and good sightings of large mature specimens are a very rare honour and privilege, something most will never see in their life times.
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