Science & Technology

A King Cobra Bite — And A Scientific Discovery | Gowri Shankar | TED

A king cobra has enough venom to kill 10 people in a single bite. Recounting his near-death experience after being bitten by one of these majestic yet deadly snakes, conservationist and TED Fellow Gowri Shankar shares the epiphany he had when the antivenom failed: there’s more than one unique species of king cobra. Visit to…

Published

4 years ago

February 23, 2022

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42 Comments

Sislertx

February 23, 2022 at 4:30 pm

Always listen to momma…

Reply
Brian Mustard

February 23, 2022 at 4:35 pm

1:37 he really said the KING was kind????????????

Reply
John Paul

February 23, 2022 at 4:36 pm

It’s amazing

Reply
vmwindustries

February 23, 2022 at 4:38 pm

Amazing work! More education is needed for the general population.

Reply
Dr. Surendran Cherukodan

February 23, 2022 at 4:38 pm

Super Sir. Here in Kerala, we have a similar King Cobra specialist-Vava Suresh-who just got recovered from a life threatening cobra bite. He has catched and saved around 300 King cobras.

Reply
NgauHung27

February 23, 2022 at 4:53 pm

wow, Good job. Thank you for sharing.

Reply
Cuộc Sống Đường Phố

February 23, 2022 at 4:55 pm

wow, Good job. Thank you for sharing.

Reply
Dou 6.2

February 23, 2022 at 4:56 pm

Great

Reply
amal jose

February 23, 2022 at 4:57 pm

In Kerala, there’s a man named Vava Suresh. Who is a snake rescuer, rescued more than 100 king cobras.

Reply
CRYIPTIC CREEP

February 23, 2022 at 5:00 pm

I would guess your quick withdrawal from the bite attempt only allowed a tiny bit of the poison to enter, no remorse just lucky.

Reply
Vesa Wuoristo

February 23, 2022 at 5:08 pm

What an impressive snake , truly a king. Let’s do all that we can to conserve our planet.

Reply
Abhishek Hire

February 23, 2022 at 5:16 pm

This snake is the real beauty. One of the most fascinating snake????????

Reply
The Loose Goose

February 23, 2022 at 5:22 pm

When the moon hits the sand and a snake bites your hand, it’s a Cobra…

Reply
helenagoblet

February 23, 2022 at 5:27 pm

Your poor mother.

Reply
Crisscross

February 23, 2022 at 5:28 pm

You’d think a neardeath experience will reduce his morale but no
As soon as he gets well, he is like *”Rescue the king cobras”* props to u man

Reply
Mongoose

February 23, 2022 at 5:30 pm

love his voice, such a peacefull man to listen too 😀

Reply
Naveen

February 23, 2022 at 5:38 pm

I have met Gowri in person and attended one of his training sessions conducted by Kalinga. It was very informative and interesting! Always been a fan of snakes

Reply
JG Hartwell

February 23, 2022 at 5:58 pm

Not into snakes but a good talk. Thanks.

Reply
Sxmmii_Gxchaa

February 23, 2022 at 6:48 pm

Thank you

Reply
Jamesie Man

February 23, 2022 at 7:18 pm

wow

Reply
pumpkin&chow

February 23, 2022 at 7:22 pm

Nice ???? yea I keep all different kinds of boas, pythons, lizards, giant monitor lizards, spiders and all kinds of crazy critters. I have videos of all different kinds of critters and absolutely love my bizarre pets.

Reply
lexi dvnt

February 23, 2022 at 7:40 pm

Mr. Gowri Shankar, you are an extraordinary man. Thank you!

Reply
mario kery

February 23, 2022 at 7:54 pm

It’s reassuring to know that you and many others have devoted your lives for the preservation and protection of the Eco systems. Thank you.

Reply
Overonator

February 23, 2022 at 10:00 pm

I read that venomous snakes inject varying amounts of venom in each bite and sometimes if you are really lucky it’s a dry bite, where no venom gets injected at all. Like you say, you were on the lower end of at venom injection scale and survived. You lucked out. I would be scared to death of king cobras after getting bitten and I would avoid them but you said “nah” and decided to continue to study them in depth instead. I don’t know if that’s brave or foolish. Respect boss.

Reply
- Romanski
  
  February 24, 2022 at 4:38 am
  
  Why would it be foolish?
  
  Reply
- Overonator
  
  February 24, 2022 at 5:47 am
  
  @Romanski Get bitten again and this maybe the snake injects enough venom to kill you?
  
  Reply
- Romanski
  
  February 24, 2022 at 6:00 am
  
  @Overonator
  Okay, but then you’re saying that studying snakes in the wild is foolish as a whole. Because that is always a risk, even more so the first time because he got less experience then.
  
  Reply
- Overonator
  
  February 24, 2022 at 9:13 am
  
  @Romanski That’s why I say it’s either brave or foolish. I leave it ambiguous. I don’t which it is.
  
  Reply
adamoxx1

February 23, 2022 at 10:33 pm

Funny that the subtitles are on by default 😀

Reply
KaiKKoto

February 24, 2022 at 3:24 am

These snakes are murderous.

Reply
Yours TRULY

February 24, 2022 at 3:24 am

now thats passion incredible

Reply
Abhay Bhatt

February 24, 2022 at 7:07 am

It’s Gauri NOT Gowri!

Reply
Rashard Abarquez

February 24, 2022 at 9:24 am

People are scarier than snakes

Reply
Nidhi Rao

February 24, 2022 at 12:40 pm

I was lucky to witness this guy let a king cobra free into the wild when I was around 11 years old. He was super fun to be around and had a LOT of knowledge. Glad to see him here again ????

Reply
Anil Kumar

February 24, 2022 at 3:05 pm

I don’t have mercy on them. It is very super venomous snake. For all the people who wanted their count increase, just increase their count to the millions and enjoy sitting next to them. Sorry I have thug like attitude.

Reply
Viliam Vacula

February 24, 2022 at 4:48 pm

Their venom is so strong it can kill 10 people in an elephant.

Reply
Harvey the paragliding chaser

February 24, 2022 at 9:11 pm

Saw a cobra on Jerejak island a few years ago, unforgettable

Reply
NICKMANTHE'-ISH

February 24, 2022 at 11:48 pm

What us the standing strike distance of this creature?

Reply
Brazos Forager

February 26, 2022 at 4:14 am

I’m starting a mongoose rescue. I intend to release as many as possible into the habitat.

Reply
Shilpa M

February 26, 2022 at 10:38 am

Hey…Keep up the good work, kudos to you for continuing this even after a near-death experience…Salute..

Reply
lillili77

February 28, 2022 at 11:17 pm

He is so inspirational

Reply

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