Specimen image via iDigBio · BY-NC
OverviewAI-generated
Naja nivea is a species classified within the kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, and class Squamata. It belongs to the family Elapidae. The organism is listed on the IUCN Red List with a status of Least Concern, as recorded in 2021.
Specimens of this species have been documented in South Africa, Namibia, Southwest Africa (Nambia), and Botswana. Biological records are held by institutions including MVZ, CM, ASU, LACM, and CAS. A total of 1731 occurrences have been logged, alongside 217 specific records and two media files. The taxon is referenced by 53 other encyclopedia articles.
Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, IUCN Red List, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Least ConcernSPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassSquamata
- FamilyElapidae
via GBIF · IUCN
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 217
- With media
- 2
- Family
- Elapidae
- Collections
- MVZ, CM, ASU, LACM, CAS, CUMV
- Recorded in
- South Africa, Namibia, Southwest Africa (Nambia), Botswana
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Naja nivea” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.