TIME OF OMAN (Muscat) 21 September 05 She’s black, she is beautiful, and she’s tall (Adarsh Madhavan
Muscat: A deadly 1.45-metres black Arabian cobra has been captured by Oman’s most famous snakeman.
One of Seyad Farook’s, Oman’s ophiologist and field herpetologist, dream came true when he recently netted this dangerous and elusive reptile during a snake hunting jaunt in Salalah, during the recently concluded Khareef.
“I managed to capture this very elusive, shy and ultra swift Arabian Cobra during my recent trip to Salalah,” an ever-enthusiastic Farook, who is heading for yet another snake hunting ‘mission’ to Salalah today, told the Times of Oman. Capturing this cobra has made this popular and gentle snake catcher develop an unusual appetite for more dangerous snakes, especially cobras.
His current target is the golden yellow cobra, also found in Salalah.
“I was supported by Abdul Razak Rajab from the Ministry of Environment in Salalah who helped me thoroughly and also took me to several remote areas in search of this cobra and other species of snakes,” Farook told the Times.
“We also had help from a camel herdsman (Mohammed) to locate some cobras and try to corner one good specimen to capture.”
The fully black Arabian Cobra was captured up the mountain of Tawi Attair leading in the direction of Jebel Samhan, Farook said. “I received complete assistance and full support from Abdul Razak in this regard.
“He was so proud of the cobra that he was keeping the snake in a basket next to his driving seat and was showing it to several people. He also took it home for one night to show it to his family. Very few people have seen this snake but always at a long distance,” Farook noted.
“I consider it as a beautiful snake, fully black and rather glossy with a tinge of reddish brown on the lateral side. With the help of Abdul Razak, we measured her using a tape and we found her to be 1.45 metres long.
“She had no horizontal bands across the body. She only has large scales on its medium size head. She was excited and raised its hood everytime she was cornered but from what I have observed so far it has not been aggressive. It behaves in a way so as to say that we should leave it alone, so that it will not harm you.
That is true because now that she is in the Herpatarium, she hides inside a pot or under the paper inside the cage, sometimes curiously staring at me from its hiding place. She stands up to show its hood only when I touch it or when it is pulled out of its hiding place. She has a special personality — like most cobras do — and keeps looking at every movement she sees of a human being. She makes a loud hiss at times and does some false charging and striking, but surely if provoked she could bite at close range.”
Farook taught Abdul Razak how to handle the cobra.
“After an initial suspicious look he was brave and courageous enough to carry the cobra himself. I am very proud and happy that one such person in the ministry will be very useful in future research work on reptiles. People in general are too afraid of snakes and reptiles and always try to avoid or if possible kill them. Abdul Razak is one person who is very keen and wants to learn more about snakes and reptiles.
He also knows most of the areas in the Dhofar region and is a useful staff member of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources, Salalah. He was dancing himself in excitement in front of the cobra while I was filming the snake’s response and the ‘cobra dance’.”
It will not hunt you down to bite
The Arabian Cobra (Naja haje arabica) is supposed to be a subspecies of the Egyptian Cobra and belongs to the complex Naja haje group. It belongs to the family called Elapidae.
Until recent times there are supposed to be five subspecies of the Egyptian Cobra in record, says Seyad Farook.
“The Arabian Cobra is found in the south and west of Saudi Arabia. In Oman it is found in the whole range of Dhofar except in the Salalah city. It keeps away from people and does not come in search of you to bite you as is the belief!”
It has rounded pupils and has a very good eyesight. Like in all snakes it has no ears and does not hear. Of course it feels vibrations on the ground and will respond to anyone approaching it, most of the time sliding away rapidly.
It has a good sense of smell. This snake lives in forested areas, in wadis and mountain ravines with rocky outcrops. It is a good climber of trees and sometimes watching from a good vantage point on large trees.
Sometimes it inhabits the storage rooms of farm houses but does not bother any people. It also lives inside termite mounds, rock fissures or holes.
The areas in which this cobra has been recorded covers Dalkut, Khadrafi, Deem, Sarfait, Rakhyut, Yemen border range and in areas like Wadi Darbaat, Tawi Attair, Wadi Naheez and several other wadis in the Dhofar region. The exact list is being compiled as and when the information is collected in the field. This cobra has several colour variations.
There are records of a golden yellow cobra in the Khadrafi region and the question is whether this is another race of the same cobra or it is purely a colour variation, Farook wonders.
In fact, Farook had encountered one himself. “This is another job in my hand, to try and capture one of these. “I am ready for such missions all the time and it is great fun. But it is a serious job going behind such venomous snakes.
“Scale counting is one way to confirm differences between different snake types and DNA analysis will confirm exact species. Dr Wolfgang Wuster from the University of Wales will be helping in analysing the blood and the venom of the Omani snakes. He is at present an authority and one of the leading herpetologists in vipers and cobras of the world. At the moment he is running behind snakes in New Guinea.”
Farook will be heading to the Dhofar region today for 10 days snake-hunting trip.
Cobras possess highly potent neurotoxic venom and according to Stephen Spawls from his book Dangerous snakes of Africa, bites from large cobras usually involve a progressive flaccid paralysis, leading to respiratory distress and death. Initial symptoms usually include burning pain and slight, slow-developing swelling. If systematic symptoms appear within an hour, the bite is likely to be very serious. Such symptoms include gradual facial paralysis (ptosis, sagging jaw, etc.), deafness, mental confusion, muscle twitches, and spasms. Breathing then becomes difficult and paralysis starts in the limbs. In one unusual case, neurological symptoms were absent and symptoms included immediate pain, massive swelling and blistering, with subsequent necrosis at the bite site. Such necrosis, lymphadenitis and slight internal bleeding are also known in cases where a sub-lethal dose of venom was injected or antivenom saved the victim. The estimated lethal dose for human is about 15mg. A full-grown cobra yields about 175-300 mg of venom.
Cobra venom has been used for many years in medical research because it has an enzyme that dissolves cell walls as well as membranes surrounding viruses.
What to do in case of a cobra bites
If a cobra bites someone, first aid must include pressure bandaging and immobilisation, and if breathing starts to fail artificial respiration must be given and the patient must be reached to one of the main hospitals as quickly as possible. The hospital is supposed to have sufficient antivenom and they may need to give a vigorous antivenom therapy to the patient and possibly supplemented with ventilation. “From what I have seen in Salalah the hospital and health centres in Dalkut and Khadrafi have antivenom (a polyvalent) imported from the antivenom production centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This covers the Arabian Cobra. There have been no cases of anyone being admitted from cobra bites. The only frequent cases have been those bitten by Puff Adders, specially from Yemen or Yemen border on the Omani side,” Seyad Farook said.
“The Khadrafi Clinic is doing a splendid job in attending to such cases at anytime of the day and even in the middle of the night they are ready to attend to a patient bitten by a snake. I must thank the director-general, deputy director general, senior staff members and all other staff of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources in Salalah for the continued assistance and support given to me during my field survey and snake hunting expedition in Oman. I would like to give special thanks to Ali Amer Ali Kiyumi, director-general for nature conservation from the Muscat office of the MRMEWR for his encouragement and support in my continuing the Ophiological Studies which is vital for gathering all the required information about the snakes of Oman.
She’s black, she is beautiful, and she’s tall

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