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Jun 7, 2024 · King cobras are a rare sight in Singapore, and are even harder to find with their prey. The species is classified as vulnerable in the Singapore Red Data Book, which provides information such...
- Snakes in Singapore?! How Many?
- Notable Names
- The Ones to Watch
- The Good News
- The Big One
- How to Learn More
- Year of The Snake
- Not Everyone’S Cup of … Soup
- Hater Or Lover?
- What to Do If You Encounter A Snake
It might be a relatively small place, but Singapore has lots of snakes – around 70 species – ranging from small, blind, burrowing snakes you’ll never see to those scarily long snakes that sometimes turn up in city drains or in the backyards of black-and-white houses.
Among this long list are some interesting and colourful names: puff-faced water snake, red-necked keelback, dog-toothed cat snake, ornate flying snake, whitespotted slug snake and common Malayan racer.
Singapore has around six or seven of the snakes that are potentially dangerous. Here are a few you should avoid stepping on… King cobra:The king cobra is the largest venomous snake in the world; it can grow up to six metres. While rarely seen, in May 2020 there was a very public sighting of a four-metre specimen near Marsiling MRT. The video of its...
Despite all these snakes, instances of people getting bitten is rare here – and deaths are even rarer. It’s difficult to get a precise figure, but one five-year study from 2004 to 2008, for example, documented 52 bites – around 10 a year – but no deaths. The last report we could find of a death was an 80-year-old man killed by a cobra bite in 1995.
The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world, and there are plenty in Singapore. Apparently, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (wrs.com.sg) receives around 50 captured pythons every month. If it’s any consolation, while this snake can grow up to 10 metres in other places, here it averages a more “modest” 2.3 metres. Pythons like eating rats, ...
Whether you’re a snake enthusiast or you just happen to have seen a snake and you’d like to know which one, several organisations can help with more details. These include Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), National Parks Board (NPARKS), ACRES and National University of Singapore (NUS).
In the Chinese zodiac, the Snake is considered an enigmatic animal, variously described as wise, humorous, sophisticated and goal-oriented. The next Snake “year” is 2025. Famous Snakes include Pablo Picasso (born in 1881 and therefore a Gold Snake), Mao Zedong (1893, Water Snake) and John F Kennedy (1917, Fire Snake). Also Slytherin her way onto th...
Snake soup is a popular dish in Hong Kong and mainland China. It’s considered a “warming” dish that can relieve arthritis; preparation involves adding snake meat and bones to a broth of ham, black fungus, ginger and mandarin peel. The soup is unavailable in Singapore and illegal to prepare or sell. It may soon be a thing of the past in other places...
If you have a fear of snakes (it’s called ophidiophobia, by the way), then maybe take up your next expat posting in Ireland or Iceland. Both countries have no natives snake species at all! If, on the other hand, you love snakes so much you’d keep one as a pet, unfortunately that’s forbidden in Singapore (the same goes for iguanas and bearded dragon...
First rule: don’t panic. (Easy for us to say, right?) Don’t try to handle a snake yourself. Instead, take a photo on your phone and get in touch with the Singapore Zoo at infocounter.zoo@wrs.com.sg; or, if you feel the matter is more urgent, call the Police on 999. As extremely unlikely as it is, if you do get bitten, call 995 for emergency service...
May 1, 2022 · On Apr. 30, one photographer in Singapore witnessed the majestic king cobra take on another reptilian powerhouse – the monitor lizard – and feast on it whole.
Feb 21, 2021 · A king cobra was spotted hanging on a tree at MacRitchie Nature Trail recently. Passers-by amazed by the snake Facebook user Masnashzreen Masturi had uploaded two clips of the cobra onto...
Sep 24, 2023 · Daryl Tan told Mothership that his friends, Rovena Chow and Alfred Mai, saw a king cobra biting a reticulated python by the side of a nature trail in Mandai when they were out searching for...
Filmed this huge four meter King Cobra snake, Ophiophagus Hannah, whilst herping in Singapore at the Central Catchment Forest, June 2022. It was me second en...
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- Christian Bassett
May 4, 2020 · It's not every day you catch sight of a king cobra — let alone one in a high-traffic public place. The majestic creature caused quite a stir when it made an appearance at Marsiling MRT station...
