- Who
- King cobra or Hamadryad (Ophiophagus hannah)
- What
- 3–4 metre(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable ()
The longest species of venomous snake is the king cobra or hamadryad Ophiophagus hannah. Native to India and southeast Asia, it averages 3–4 m in length, but the longest specimen on record – captured in April 1937 near Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, and put on display at London Zoo – had attained a length of 5.71 m by autumn 1939. Sadly, it had to be destroyed, like the zoo's other venomous snakes, at the outbreak of World War II in order to prevent danger to the general public should the zoo be bombed by the enemy and the snakes escape.
