The Cape cobra (Naja nivea), also called the yellow cobra, is a moderate-sized, highly venomous species of cobra inhabiting a wide variety of biomes across southern Africa, including arid savanna, fynbos, bushveld, desert, and semidesert regions.
The species is diurnal and is a feeding generalist, preying on a number of different species and carrion. Predators of this species include birds of prey, honey badgers, and various species of mongooses. The Cape cobra is also known as the geelslang (yellow snake) and bruinkapel (brown cobra) in South Africa. Afrikaans-speaking South Africans also refer to the Cape cobra as koperkapel (copper cobra), mainly because of a rich yellow colour variation. This species has no known subspecies.
Etymology
Naja nivea was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The generic name naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word () meaning "cobra". The specific epithet nivea is derived from the Latin words either nix or nivis meaning "snow" or niveus meaning "snowy" or "snow-white". The connection with snow is obscure, but might have been suggested by discolouration of the first preserved specimens received by taxonomists in Europe.
Taxonomy
Naja is a genus in the family Elapidae. Linnaeus first described Naja nivea in 1758. He originally assigned the binomial name Coluber niveus, but some 10 years afterwards, Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti described the genus of true cobras under the name Naja. In 2007, Wüster et al. partitioned the genus Naja into four separate subgenera on the basis of various factors such as lineage, morphology, and diet. They placed Naja nivea in the subgenus Uraeus, the African nonspitting cobras - Cape cobra (N. nivea), Egyptian cobra (N. haje), snouted cobra (N. annulifera), Anchieta's cobra (N. anchietae), Arabian cobra (N. arabica), and Senegalese cobra (N. senegalensis).
Description
The Cape cobra is a medium-sized species of cobra. Mature specimens are typically about long, but may grow up to in length. Males are slightly larger than females. The longest specimen on record is a male from Aus, Namibia, measured long. Another very large specimen was also a male found in De Hoop Nature Reserve with a total length of .
Cape cobras vary widely in colouration, from yellow through golden brown to dark brown and even black. In addition, individuals show a varying degree of black or pale stippling and blotches, and although colour and marking are geographically related, observing virtually all colour varieties is possible at one location. For example, the Kalahari Desert specimens in Botswana and Namibia are usually more consistently yellow than the more southerly populations, but at De Hoop, and other specific locations in the Western Cape, all colour variations have been recorded. Juvenile specimens generally have conspicuously dark throats extending down the belly for the width of a dozen or so ventral scales. The colour fades during the first year or two of life, but while it lasts, it commonly leads laymen to confuse the juvenile Cape cobra with the Rinkhals spitting cobra.
Distribution and habitat
The Cape cobra is endemic to southern Africa. In South Africa, where it most often occurs, the species occurs throughout the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, and North West Province. It also is found in the southern half of Namibia, southwestern Botswana, and western Lesotho.
Although the Cape cobra has a smaller geographical range than any other African cobra, it occurs in a variety of different habitats. The preferred habitat of the species is fynbos, bushveld, karoo scrubland, arid savanna, the Namib desert, and the Kalahari desert. It often inhabits rodent burrows, abandoned termite mounds, and in arid regions, rock crevices. Where it occurs in temperate regions and arid karroid regions, it is often found along rivers and streams entering well-drained, open areas.
In Lesotho, they may occur at altitudes as high as above sea level. They occur in forest and high grassland areas of Free State province, in rocky hills of the Cape Province, and in desert and semidesert areas throughout their geographical range. Cape cobras venture into villages, partially developed suburbs, and squatter communities, where they may enter houses to escape the heat of the day or to seek prey such as rodents. This brings them into direct contact with humans.