(birds chirping)
NARRATOR: They rule the reptilian underworld through fear.
Hooded assassins, armed with sophisticated weapons
and specialist skills.
(hissing)
Over 270 species of these elite snakes belong to the Elapidae family.
-(growl) -(hiss)
Their reign of terror spans two continents,
where their name alone evokes widespread panic.
For included in their ranks are the world's greatest venomous snakes.
They are The Cobra Mafia.
(heart beating)
(birds chirping)
(heart beating)
A newly hatched forest cobra draws her first breath
and rests for a moment.
A creature sometimes revered but mostly feared.
Born fully independent,
instinct is already driving her.
A powerful array of finely tuned senses is firing up.
Her mission is to survive
and to survive she must kill.
(bird calling)
She's on her own and dangers abound.
She may be the only one of thirteen siblings to survive.
But she's a natural born killer,
equipped with an inherited arsenal of deadly weapons
and characteristic cobra bad attitude.
(ribbit)
Her presence stirs fear,
as her family name and reputation precedes her.
(croaks)
For good reason.
Petal might be at her most vulnerable right now
but she's a little hunter in the making
and we'll soon see just what she's capable of.
For she belongs to a veteran gang of predators
who rule the reptilian streets of Africa and Asia.
(hissing)
The Cobra Mafia is a group of ruthless hitmen,
each equipped with a set of skills to run their operations.
Unlike most other groups of snake species,
they're armed with hollow fangs
designed like hypodermic needles,
used to inject deadly venom into their victims.
But it's their trademark move and iconic shape
that distinguishes them from most other serpents.
Raising a third of their body length off the ground,
they use specially adapted muscles to expand modified ribs
and stretching their neck skin,
they form hoods, striking the defense pose
that has terrified their enemies for centuries.
But there are imposters within their ranks,
Cousins who have mastered the move,
even employ the hooding
and their behavior behind closed doors
doesn't comply with the strict cobra code of conduct.
Is this a family of cold-blooded killers
or have they just earned a bad reputation?
Africa's hot jungles are home to high-ranking mob members,
the forest cobras.
Meet Romeo, don of Africa's forests and waterways,
one of the biggest, meanest, bad-asses around.
His species territory stretches throughout the African rainforests,
making him one of the largest true cobras with such impressive real estate,
in the world.
And big guys play with big guns.
Romeo's bringing his to the heat of this battle.
When it comes to the ladies, he means business.
But the prize he's fighting for might not hang around long enough to be won.
Fern is a female forest cobra.
She's hanging back in the shadows
interested enough but not convinced of either male's prowess... yet.
They'll have to prove their mettle to win her admiration
and possibly a chance to mate with her.
Is either guy cobra enough to convince her he's 'the one'?
In Asia, Fern's cousin, the King cobra,
is also working the dating department
and she's set her sights pretty high.
She's after the godfather.
As far as potential mates go,
he'd be the catch of the century.
He's got the whole package.
His species title as king comes with a vast territory
that spans the forested regions in India across into southeast Asia,
an area almost the size of north America.
Growing to over 17 feet in length,
he's the world's longest, venomous snake.
Elongated muscles and tendons stabilize his ribs
and lower body, allowing him to extend upwards.
When he pulls this classic cobra-style move,
he can look a grown man of six feet in the eye.
And he packs a mighty punch too.
With venom glands that stretch from just behind his eyes,
king cobras can inject up to 600 milligrams of venom in one bite.
Only 20 milligrams of venom is lethal to a human,
So with one bite, the king can inject enough venom
to kill 20 people or a fully-grown Asian elephant,
within three hours.
(elephant rumbles)
With all that adding to his appeal,
he's got his hands full with the ladies.
While snakes grow throughout their lives,
their skins don't grow with them.
Every few months, they will shed,
like the female has just done.
Her newly sloughed skin leaves a pheromone trail,
as she steers a path ahead of him.
Cast aside like a dusty old coat,
it acts as a beacon to catch the king's eye.
If he picks up what she's putting down,
he might decide to follow his nose, or tongue.
Because for snakes,
smelling is more a matter of taste.
As the Godfather flicks his tongue,
he collects particles from the air, and transfers them
to the Jacobson's organ in the roof of his mouth for analysis.
Like a photograph being developed,
this information creates a mental image of what he's tasting.
With his forked tongue, he tastes in stereo,
and he's picked up on her trail.
But the female is cautious and keeps just ahead of him,
letting him get too close could be dangerous.
King cobra males are known to be aggressive.
If he tries to catch up to her, with bad intentions,
she needs a quick escape route,
or things could turn ugly,
like it did for this female King cobra.
(hissing)
In a classic case of fatal attraction.
The female's got her king's attention,
but is he in the mood,
or is she dicing with death?
The king cobra has caught sight of the female up ahead.
He edges closer to take a better look.
But as he stops, and raises his body,
she seems uncertain about his intentions.
Cobras typically strike their classic pose
when they feel intimidated.
By looking bigger, they can frighten away a potential threat.
But he may just be tuning into one of his more unique and little understood senses,
What we think of as hearing, for him, is better described as feeling.
Snakes have no external ears and no eardrums like we do.
Instead, the Godfather feels vibrations caused by movement,
in the air and along the ground.
One way these vibrations can be transmitted is through the body,
to the tissues surrounding the jawbone into the auditory system.
Here, the auditory system within the inner ear relays the signal to the brain.
the Godfather's seen or heard something
that sends him in the opposite direction.
The female's been rejected.
But at least she's alive to tell the tale.
While her Asian cousin deals with rejection,
African forest cobra Fern is getting impatient
as the males posture, pose, and tangle themselves up again.
(rattling)
But things are looking up,
Romeo is pulling out the big guns.
Physical conflict comes with a great risk of injury,
and even minor ones like a bite, in the wild can be fatal.
But Romeo's got a secret weapon.
His tail's very last scale is shaped into a hard,
pin-sharp spike.
Like a switchblade, he whips it out when things really kick off.
(rattling continues)
Just a little jab could trick his enemy into believing he's been bitten.
The final stab means Fern is his.
If it's not too late.
She's given up waiting for the brawlers, heading off instead, in search of lunch.
Romeo will have to track her into the forest.
(birds chirping)
There's a reason forest cobras have chosen to work
the waterways and forests of Africa.
(croaks)
Frogs, toads and even fish
form a large part of a forest cobras diet,
and she needs to be an excellent swimmer to get around.
Undulating and thrusting forward,
she inflates her lungs,
keeping her body afloat
as she navigates the pools and streams in search of food.
A toad sees her coming.
(croaks)
Leaping away, he dead-ends any tasty trail she might pick up.
But Fern doesn't rely only on smell,
or taste, when hunting.
(croaks)
Binocular vision enables her to pick up visual cues
as subtle as the toad's breathing.
(birds chirping)
The toad can smell her.
He can't tell which way she's coming from.
Like a missile launcher she's locked onto her target,
calculating exact coordinates for her strike.
(heart beating)
Frugal with her valuable ammunition,
Fern injects just enough neurotoxic venom required to kill him.
He puffs himself up, a classic toad defense move,
making himself bigger,
but it's the last move he'll ever make.
Fern will swallow the toad slowly, stretching her jaw
to accommodate his size,
and digest him at leisure.
This may give Romeo a much-needed opportunity to catch up to her.
While Fern's perfected her forest hunting skills,
her cousin, Capo, a Cape cobra,
lives in a slightly different neighborhood.
It's a beat Fern couldn't survive in.
Scorching heat, little shelter
and unusual prey-options means Capo's had to develop
a special set of skills
and a totally different modus operandi to remain Don of the desert.
His stronghold stretches across the arid southwestern region of Africa,
one of the harshest environments on earth.
The vast dry expanses of uninhabited wilderness
shape the behavior patterns of all the creatures
that have adapted to live here.
But Capo and his crew of day-hunters are tough.
They'll do anything to survive.
There's very little food to be found here,
So Capo isn't picky.
He'll eat whatever he can catch,
Or even scavenge on carrion.
But that means he's sometimes on the menu too.
For Capo, the Cape cobra,
the stark landscape of his territory
is mostly devoid of escape routes when faced with an enemy.
Sometimes his tough-guy attitude, wits and cunning
are his only defense.
Yellow mongoose share the daytime beat
with Cape cobras and this is where it gets complicated.
They're little, cute and deadly.
(mongoose growling)
These two aren't just rivals
competing for the same prey,
they're mortal enemies.
Sharp canine teeth
and lightning speed make the mongoose a formidable foe.
(hissing)
Given half the chance, she won't hesitate to make a meal of Capo.
But rearing, with his hood spread,
Capo strikes a terrifying figure, and it does the trick.
-(growling) -(hissing)
The mongoose backs down.
Living in such a harsh hood
with such a tough crowd for neighbors,
can really bring out one's bad side.
Learning to stand his ground
has earned Capo a rep for being edgy and aggressive.
No self-respecting tough guy would go anywhere unarmed.
Cape cobras are equipped
with one of the deadliest venoms in Africa.
Drop for drop, the syrupy toxic cocktail is more potent
than any other true cobra in Africa.
Only a pinprick amount can kill a man in minutes.
If there's one place in a desert that should be safe from predators,
it's up as high as possible.
(birds squeaking)
Sociable weavers build great grassy apartment blocks,
specially designed to keep enemies out.
Access is only possible by air from below.
But Capo's got a trick to get in.
This is a hit he's got to make...
(birds squeaking)
...with so little food around,
A chance at a prize this rich is too good to pass up.
(birds squeaking)
As he picks his way up the tree,
Up to 100 pairs of weaver eyes
could spot Capo and sound the alarm to mob him.
But he's timed his operation well.
The birds are caught up in their daily activities
and his scales provide perfect camouflage.
There's no stopping his stealthy approach now.
He can taste lunch on the air.
Elongated muscles holding together hundreds of vertebrae
means Capo is like one long elastic band,
able to twist around any angle.
(birds squeaking)
For Capo, it's like raiding a well-stocked store.
A nest like this is a valuable food resource for him.
At any given time it may be home to over 200 chicks
and he needs only two or three to fill him up.
(birds squeaking)
Breaching the security of a weaver's nest is a tough job,
but Capo's pulling it off.
(chicks squeaking)
(squeaking continues)
His success bodes well for the breeding season ahead.
Like Romeo and the Godfather,
he'll soon be looking for a mate.
Finding one out here can use up a whole lot of energy.
Fern hasn't moved far from where she caught her lunch.
It's given Romeo a chance to catch up to her.
Making eye contact, they seem to like what they see.
But visual stimulus is all Romeo's got to go on at the moment.
Even though Fern's giving off signals that she's ready to mate,
he'll have to put her to the taste test,
just to make sure they're on the same wavelength.
(birds chirping)
Snakes' sex pheromone molecules are too large
to float through the air.
To know where he stands with her,
he'll have to touch his tongue to her body.
The pheromones he tastes will give him valuable information like her age
and if she's ready to mate.
Turns out, she's not just a tease.
To seduce her, Romeo gently nudges her body
with his head, rubbing against her,
rippling his muscles as he lies beside her.
When she's all loved up,
she'll lift the base of her tail,
and he'll entwine his with hers.
But the couple briefly splits apart.
Their activities could last all day,
the tree stump boudoir offers them a little privacy
and protection while their attention is, elsewhere.
Only newly hatched snakelings, hours old,
are more vulnerable to an enemy attack than they are now.
Romeo and Fern are lucky in love,
but what they don't know is that their cozy beat is about to be invaded.
But not by an enemy.
This is an inside job.
Two young newcomers are searching for fresh hunting grounds.
They're cousins of the forest cobras,
Armed with unique firepower.
they're headed straight for Romeo and Fern's territory in the forest.
(birds chirping)
It's early spring
and Fern the forest cobra has some important decisions to make.
Although she's just mated with Romeo,
she isn't pregnant yet.
Like many female snakes,
she's got her own natural form of birth control,
allowing her to store sperm and impregnate herself later.
She's waiting for just the right time and place to lay her eggs.
They'll need up to 80 days to hatch,
So she needs to hurry.
The longer she delays,
the later in summer her babies will be born.
They'll need the abundant food and warm weather of the season
to get a good start in life.
The added pressure of competition for food they could face
during colder months may cause Fern to abandon her baby plans for the year.
She can store Romeo's sperm for months,
even years, yet the longer she leaves it,
the higher the chance of it deteriorating.
Worse still, something could happen to her
before she gets another chance to have her young.
With summer on its way,
and the unwelcome arrival of her cousins imminent,
she's up against a fast approaching deadline.
Meet Fern's Cousins.
Hailing from the high altitude rocky outcrops
and grasslands north of her territory,
the Rinkhals, otherwise known as The Faker,
seldom ventures too far south.
So what's the real reason he's fleeing his usual beat?
Closing in from the east,
his accomplice, The Sniper is also heading south,
towards the forest.
He's looking for fresh hunting grounds.
His real name is a dead giveaway
for the highly specialized,
unique weapons he and his cousin, the Rinkhals are carrying.
(hissing)
He's a Mozambique Spitting Cobra.
Together, they're coming armed to the teeth...
literally.
Like their cobra relatives,
these two have needle-like fangs,
but they've got an extra adaptation
for more serious firepower.
The central ducts are like the trajectory of a high-powered rifle,
but customized with an exit point
at the front of the fang,
rather than at the tip like their non-spitting relatives.
This means that when they force venom at high speed
down the barrel of their fangs,
it shoots straight out in whatever direction they're aiming,
spraying their targets with a toxic shower up to 10 feet away.
It's the perfect defense weapon,
no contact is required
and venom in the eyes of their victims can quickly cause blindness.
Rinkhals are distinguished by the white bands
on their necks when they hood,
but they're masters of disguise.
Their dorsal scales vary in color from dirty gray
to bright yellow and red stripes,
making them hard to identify.
But that's not the only trick the Rinkhals have up their sleeves.
An old rival has recently taken up residence
in the rocky outcrops
the Rinkhals and his crew usually patrol.
He's got a reputation as a snake killer.
Weighing up to 35 pounds, rock monitors snack on snakes like the Rinkhals.
But the lizard is about to be scammed.
If Rinkhals can't spit their way out of trouble,
they play dead...
so well it's an act worthy of an Oscar.
But it's not just death they're good at faking.
Their keeled rough scales,
so unlike shiny smooth cobra skin,
betray these tricksters' true identities.
They're merely distant relatives
who've adopted cobra characteristics.
But they're proving themselves worthy honorary members
of the cobra family.
Leaving his territory,
the Rinkhals must pass through human settlements along the way.
He and his crew are often found hanging about homes
and construction sites.
But it's not because they like people.
The Rinkhals runs a successful pest control operation
and he's got a reputation for taking no prisoners.
Rodents spread disease and cause destruction.
A single female mouse can have up to 140 babies a year.
Left unchecked, rodents could take over the world.
He's usually not seen or heard,
but he's polite and pulls his weight around the house.
In lieu of rent he rids homes of other unwanted guests.
(hissing)
The briefest contact is enough for him to inflict a deadly bite.
(squeaking)
Neurotoxins flood her bloodstream,
quickly disarming her nervous system,
killing her within minutes.
A fully-grown Rinkhals may feed only once every few weeks.
But he's not full yet.
(rats squeaking)
There's always room for dessert.
(squeaking continues)
His tastes may seem unpleasant,
and his presence strikes fear,
but the Rinkhals has nothing on his Asian co-conspirator,
a snake who's also adopted the cobra name
and whose status as king serves as a convenient cover
for his diabolical habits and tastes.
With his cobra good looks and similar anatomical features,
The Godfather has also managed to pass himself off as one of them.
But a slight twist in the menu when it comes to dinnertime
sets king cobras apart from their true cobra relatives.
Living in close proximity to human settlements
means the Godfather's hunting ground
sometimes extends into the nearby village.
And he's not the only one looking for food.
A beauty rat snake is also on the prowl.
The rat snake's hesitation loses him his meal.
But the king is right on target.
(intense music)
All cobra species will eat other snakes given the chance.
King Cobras choose to prey exclusively on snakes.
The Godfather's just living up to his species name,
Ophiophagus hannah.
In English, it means "snake eater."
in Africa, hunting is the last thing on Fern's mind.
She's carefully chosen a nest site and laid her eggs.
Her parenting duties are now over and she won't be back.
The nest is at great risk from predators
like the Mozambique Spitting Cobra.
If found, it would make for an easy, nutritious meal.
But it's what lies just beyond the borders of Fern's territory
that has caught this Mozambique Spitting Cobra's attention.
Lush gardens provide the perfect habitat for the sniper,
who's looking for new turf.
Getting in isn't easy.
The local residents aren't too welcoming.
The sniper's come for a big prize
and adapting to a new habitat is a small price to pay in exchange.
(croaks)
But who said anything worth winning ever came easy?
(croaks)
The sniper's going to have to try another strategy.
Perhaps the night beat will be more profitable.
For the Mozambique Spitting Cobra,
settling in the suburbs
and switching to the nighttime beat is working out well.
In the pitch dark, his excellent night vision
isn't the only sense he's using to hunt with.
Combining his ability to taste the air,
with his sense of smell,
he can pinpoint the exact position of his target.
(croaks)
(crickets chirping)
The toad smells danger, but which way to turn?
He makes the wrong choice.
Fern chose her nest site well.
For almost two months, it's gone unnoticed by predators.
But it's late in the season.
The newly hatched snakelings may struggle
to find small enough prey like young frogs and toads.
(birds chirping)
An army of tiny soldiers armed with chemical weapons,
they disperse into the forest,
natural born killers on the loose.
Petal's senses are firing up.
She's 30 minutes old and she's hungry.
To eat, she must hunt.
In true forest cobra style,
she heads for water,
genetically programmed to look for amphibious prey.
While she's inherited her mother's killer instincts
and got the right tools,
she's still gotta learn how to use them.
It's been a week since she hatched
and Petal's yet to launch a successful attack.
Although she was born with a large yolk sack in her stomach,
it will only provide her with nourishment for up to two weeks.
(hissing)
(croaks)
She can't give up.
He's almost three times her size,
but her first bite is enough to inject paralyzing venom.
(birds calling distantly)
(birds chirping)
Petal's perseverance pays off.
In time, she will learn to eat her dinner with more finesse.
But for now,
she's proved she can survive in the fast lane of cobra life.
The cobra mafia members aren't just masters of mayhem.
They face lives filled with enemies
competing for territory, mates and prey.
Whether true cobras or distant relatives claiming the name,
they're all true survivors.