Monitor Lizard’s death dance with a King Cobra

Place: Bijrani, Corbett Tiger Reserve

Photos: Manik K Harika

Text: Daleep Akoi

We had reported earlier in the summer the curious incident of two reptiles entwined in a death match: that of a Monitor Lizard of about 3 feet in length and a King Cobra, possibly one of the largest specimens recorded in Corbett Tiger Reserve, at around 20 feet if not more.

A monitor lizard, roughly the same size as the one preyed on by the cobra

The story comes to us from Ms Manik K Harika who was staying at the retreat June 12-15 earlier in the year. It was the afternoon session on June 14 – a safari to the Bijrani zone that fetched these amazing moments, captured on camera and reproduced here.

June 12 was a hot day, though the forest road was well shaded by the overhanging branches of Jamun and Haldu, offering some respite from a heat that had been threatening to turn the day into a scorcher. The jeep contained four passengers: the driver, a naturalist and the two camera-laden visitors from Delhi, zoom lenses open, their fingers ready on the clicker.

The lizard went down quickly!

A right turn from the Bijrani Forest Rest House crossing and soon they were upon a road veering into a jungle thicket. They had traveled about ten minutes when the party found itself upon a sight so strange that none could form words nor express their horror at what was unfolding before them.

A close up reveals the different scale patterns on the two reptilian species

On the side of the road, by the exposed roots of a tree, lay a giant cobra convulsing, its scales moving to expand around the body of a prey now unable to offer any resistance. The troupe of four looked on as though in a trance, unable to peel away from this exhibition of incredible motion: the body of the snake in a vice-like grip, swirling about a reptile now limp, its oxygen depleted, its body emasculated.

The photo series reveal how the cobra swallowed an entire monitor lizard, nose to tail, in not more than 15 minutes!

The lizard-snake encounter was not the only excitement their adventure was to offer. Manik and her friends also witnessed an incident just as unusual and strange on a different day and in a different part of the forest. Another unusual display of jungle behavior was evident when they found themselves upon a cobra successfully trapping its predator, a serpent eagle, which had just dropped from the sky to airlift it for a treetop meal.

In possibly the biggest shock the eagle would receive – its character so used to piercing a writhing serpent with its talons - that the tables would turn so suddenly and decisively was indeed an important lesson for the bird, even if it was its last. With one delayed thrust from the eagle’s claws, the cobra pressed an advantage it didn’t have over the bird earlier. And with the eagle’s momentary lapse in judgment, the snake, which a few minutes ago was to be its meal, found itself a bird for dinner instead. (No cameras were taken on the safari unfortunately; photographic evidence is therefore unavailable.)

The entire length of the cobra is in evidence here

In this jungle, with over 50 mammals, 33 reptiles and over 550 birds, there’s always some twist in the tale.