GOLD’S TREE COBRA
Pseudohaje goldii
DESCRIPTION:
A big slender tree cobra with average adults being between 1.5 and 2 meters, reaching 2.7 meters in length. Gold’s Tree Cobra has a blunt head and very large eye. Shiny and glossy black above with the scales on the sides of the head, chin and throat colored in bright yellow, with black edging. Young snakes have several bands or cross-bars which narrow toward the tail, becoming scattered yellow scales on the rear of the snake.
Click here for information regarding the only other species in this genus, the Black Tree Cobra (Pseudohaje nigra).
HABITS & HABITAT:
Found from sea-level up to 1700m in forests or forest islands as well as Guinea savanna, primary and altered forest, mangrove and swamp forest, and sometimes in suburbs. These snakes are alert, nervous and quick but rarely seen. They move and climb very fast. If cornered or threatened it will rear-up spreading a long narrow hood.
DISTRIBUTION:
Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, W/C/E Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea. Jump to distribution map.
DANGER, VENOM, FIRST AID:
In the laboratory, the venom has high lethal potency, but no cases of bites or envenoming are recorded. The venom is presumed to be neurotoxic like other members of the cobra family and must be considered a medical emergency. Bites are extremely unlikely due to the rarity of this snake, and being nervous and alert, the snake is likely to flee before it is even seen.
Information sources: Published literature, Wikipedia and The Reptile Database
Gallery for Gold's tree cobra
CREDITS: Unless otherwise noted, all photographs and maps are sourced from iNaturalist and permitted under licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Range Map for Gold's tree cobra
Map legend: Red dots show verified records submitted to inaturalist.org. Transparent overlay shows known range.
