第 0015 號，共 1 402 號

Cape cobra

Naja nivea

名字的由來： Naja comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'cobra', and nivea comes from Latin words meaning 'snow' or 'snow-white'.1

致命地球上最致命的動物之一。如果牠咬了你，要立刻求救。快速救援和抗毒血清能救活大多數人。立刻打緊急電話。

眼鏡蛇、曼巴蛇和環蛇

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 致命世界上最危險的動物之一。

The Cape cobra is a medium-sized, highly venomous cobra. It lives in many kinds of land across southern Africa, and it often comes close to people. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous cobras in all of Africa.1

分布在

Southern Africa: mainly South Africa, plus southern Namibia, south-west Botswana and western Lesotho1

非洲

首頁

It lives in fynbos, bushveld, karoo scrubland, arid savanna and deserts. It often uses rodent burrows, abandoned termite mounds and rock crevices. It also enters villages, suburbs of Cape Town and houses, where it may shelter from the heat or hunt rodents.1

長度

1,2 m 到 1,6 m (3,9 ft 到 5,2 ft)1

最高速度

大約 7,5 km/h（4,7 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It is a feeding generalist that eats other snakes, rodents, lizards, birds and carrion. It is also well known for raiding the nests of sociable weavers, and it can be cannibalistic, sometimes eating the young of its own kind.1

Cape cobra 的照片 — Cape cobra。照片：Marius Burger。 CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Colour ranges from yellow through golden brown and dark brown to black.1
Many individuals have black or pale stippling and blotches.1
Juveniles have a dark throat that continues down the belly.1
Adults are typically 1.2 to 1.4 m long.1
When threatened, it raises the front of its body and spreads a broad hood.1

常被誤認為： Juvenile Cape cobras have dark throats, which often leads people to confuse them with the rinkhals, a spitting cobra. The dark throat fades during the first year or two of life.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its venom is thick and syrupy, and contains potent neurotoxins that act on the nerves, and possibly cardiotoxins that affect the heart. The venom can affect the respiratory system, nervous system and heart. When death occurs, it normally takes one to ten hours, or more, and is often caused by respiratory failure due to paralysis.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 致命世界上最危險的動物之一。

It is regarded as one of the most dangerous cobras in Africa because of its potent venom and its frequent presence around houses. The mortality rate for untreated bites is not exactly known, but is thought to be high, around 50%. Outcomes depend on factors such as the amount of venom injected and the bitten person's state of mind.1

好消息：醫生有藥（抗毒血清）或治療方法。1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened, it raises its forebody, spreads a broad hood, may hiss loudly and strikes readily.1

如果牠咬人

Mechanical ventilation (a machine that helps the person breathe) and symptom management are often enough to save a life. Serious cases need antivenom, which is a polyvalent antivenom produced by the South African Institute of Medical Research.1
讓傷者保持不動和冷靜，取下戒指和緊身的東西，並趕快送醫院：抗毒血清就是治療方法。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 3 隻家貓從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 9 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長可以在 48 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

Cape cobra 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

Cape cobra 大約 7,5 km/h (4,7 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 大約 12 km/h (7,5 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Its venom dries into shiny pale flakes that look like yellow sugar.1

Meerkats and some mongooses prey on it and have a low susceptibility to its venom.1

It is a good climber and can climb trees and bushes.1

The longest recorded specimen was a male from Aus, Namibia, measuring 1.88 m.1

給毒液專家

學名: Naja nivea
類群: 眼鏡蛇、曼巴蛇和環蛇
家人: Elapidae2
排序: Squamata
各大洲: 非洲
寶寶: It lays eggs, between 8 and 20 per clutch in midsummer, and the hatchlings are completely independent from birth.1
對人的危險: 5 / 5: 致命3