It was killed at the outbreak of World War II to prevent it from escaping into the city if the zoo was bombed. Native to Asia, king cobras can grow over 16 feet (5 meters) long, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute The longest king cobra ever recorded was a captive snake that reached 18.7 feet (5.71 m) at London Zoo in the late 1930s, according to Guinness World Records - roughly the length of a shipping container. Rearing up to display its flared hood and venomous fangs, the king cobra ( Ophiophagus hannah) cuts a threatening figure - and not just because its bite is powerful enough to kill an elephant. (Image credit: Dikky Oeasin/Getty Images) “Because they’re able to disassociate the upper and lower jaws when about to devour prey, they can often take in things which are much larger than their head sizes,” Campbell said. These snakes can swallow such large prey thanks to a set of highly flexible jaws, a trait they share with several other snake species. Occasionally, even humans are on the menu: there are several accounts of African rock pythons attacking and even partially consuming people. Like Burmese pythons, Central African rock pythons can gulp down sizable prey including antelope and crocodiles.
These pythons average around 9.8 to 16.5 feet (3 to 5 m) long, according to Animal Diversity Web (ADW). It’s highly adaptable and found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, where it is equally at home in savannah, forest and desert habitats. The Central African rock python ( Python sebae) is Africa’s largest snake, according to Oregon Zoo. (Image credit: Michele D'Amico/Getty Images) Central African rock pythons are Africa's largest snake, reaching lengths of 16.5 feet.
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