Deadly African Cobra (+ more Wildlife!)

The baby cobra featured in this reccie adventure along a dry riverbed is an Anchieta's / Angolan Cobra ( Naja anchietae ). This cobra grows to one of the largest cobras in Southern Africa, up to over 7ft long, like all cobra species it is highly venomous and able to spread a hood as a defensive posture. The Anchieta's cobra specifically has a potent neurotoxic venom affecting the respiratory system. The babies (like this one) is born at around 20-30 cm long, so this is a new born hatchling. Between 30 and 60 eggs are laid in the clutch. In this video I explain that while a large proportion of the snakes that hatch do not survive until adulthood, these baby snakes are a very important part of the ecosystem as they provide food for other animals, including birds of prey, frogs, other snakes, mammals, that would be less capable of feeding on an adult cobra! All these baby snakes though are born with the same potency of venom. The venom yield may be a bit lower.

Other animals encountered on this reccie throughout the day from the morning until dusk time include two species of tortoise: the Kalahari Tent Tortoise ( Psammobates oculifer ) and the Leopard Tortoise ( Stigmochelys pardalis ). Another unusual and rarely seen snake was the shovel-snouted snake ( Prosymna sp.) that feeds on lizard eggs. Also encountered was a troop of baboons who like to hang out and play in the dry riverbeds.

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DISCLAIMER
Jack Randall has extensive experience handling and studying wild animals. Where filming with dangerous animals Made in the Wild works with scientists and wildlife institutions. Do not attempt to handle wild animals without appropriate training and permits.

About Jack Randall:
Jack is a zoologist on an adventure! His mission is to show off the world’s most amazing animals. And to do that he must explore the world’s most wild places… You can also catch Jack on his TV show with National Geographic Wild / Disney+ called "Out There with Jack Randall" . Jack was educated at Oxford University following an apprenticeship with the iconic Steve Irwin (which started when Jack was 14!).

What Are Creature Features?
All creatures have evolved different tricks to survive in the wild places they call their homes! Each animal has an awesome story about how they look, what they eat and even how they move! Creature Features spotlight the stories behind these crazy cool adaptations.

The Science:
With over 1 Million species on the IUCN Red List of Endangered & Threatened Species, animal populations are in decline the world over. This is due to many reasons but what we know for sure is to keep the planet's amazing diversity of wildlife we need to learn as much as possible about where and how these creatures live their lives. Collating all the data we are gathering will help build a picture of which habitats are key to sustaining the largest diversity of life on planet earth.

Thanks to our amazing team without whom the series would not have been possible!

Sarah Ash, Edit
Suzie Brearley, Production
Alex Whitcombe & Rachel Hagreen, Camera
Rodney Katutja, Field Support
Mike Wyatt, Graphics