第 0014 號，共 1 402 號

Egyptian cobra

Naja haje

名字的由來： "Naja" comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "cobra", and "haje" comes from an Arabic word meaning "snake".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 Egyptian cobra is one of the most venomous snakes in Northern Africa. It lives across much of North Africa and the savannas of West Africa, and it often lives close to people, sometimes entering villages and houses. Its bite is dangerous, so it is important to know what it looks like.1

分布在

North Africa north of the Sahara, West African savannas, south to the Congo Basin and east to Kenya and Tanzania1

非洲

首頁

It lives in steppes, savannas, and dry semi-desert areas that have some water and vegetation, and it is often found near water. It also lives in farm fields and scrub, and it is attracted to villages by rats and domestic chickens, often entering houses.1

長度

2,6 m (8,5 ft)1

最高速度

大約 8,1 km/h（5 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It prefers to eat toads, but it also hunts small mammals, birds, eggs, lizards and other snakes. It is an active forager and will enter homes, especially to hunt domestic fowl.1

Egyptian cobra 的照片 — Egyptian cobra。照片：safaritravelplus。 CC0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Its large, flattened head is slightly distinct from its neck, and it can spread a hood like other cobras.1
Most individuals are some shade of brown, often with a tear-drop mark below the eye.1
Some are copper-red or grey-brown, and those from Morocco are almost entirely black.1
The belly is mostly creamy white, yellow brown, grey, blue grey, dark brown or black, often with dark spots.1
It is a large snake, with an average length of roughly 1.4 metres.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 mainly made of neurotoxins, which attack the nerves, and cytotoxins, which damage cells. The venom stops nerve signals reaching the muscles, and in later stages it also affects the heart and lungs, which can lead to death from respiratory failure. A bite causes local pain, severe swelling, bruising, blistering and tissue death, and may also cause headache, vomiting, dizziness, convulsions or 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。

The venom is strong enough to kill a person. A single bite can release an average of 175 to 300 mg of venom. Its venom is slow-acting and does not always cause death. Venom from northern African populations, especially from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, is more potent than venom from southern and western populations.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 approached, it usually tries to escape, but if threatened it rises up with its hood spread and strikes.1

如果牠咬人

Get to a hospital fast: antivenom is the treatment. In a 2018 case, a bitten man was evacuated to Egypt, treated with antivenom and made a full recovery.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 2,5 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 14 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長可以在 44 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

Egyptian 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)

Egyptian cobra 大約 8,1 km/h (5 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 大約 12 km/h (7,5 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Most ancient sources blame an Egyptian cobra for the death of Cleopatra and her two handmaidens, though recent researchers have questioned this.1

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs wore a stylised cobra, the uraeus, on their diadem as a symbol of sovereignty.1

In 2006, a pet cobra escaped in Toronto and forced the evacuation of a house for more than five months.1

In 2011, a venomous female cobra went missing from the Bronx Zoo and was found in a dark corner of the reptile house six days later. Staff named her "Mia", for "missing in action".1

It is often found in water, and there are records of it swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.1