Africa is known for it's share of venomous snakes and the spitting cobra is just one of them. I have known about the spitting cobra for a while now, but this most recent find is of great interest to scientists for they believe it's a separate species altogether. If it is then the number spitting copra species is six.


Photograph courtesy Anthony Childs/WildlifeDirect ©


The above image and many more can be found on the Wildlife Direct web site. You can get there by clicking here: www.wildlifedirect.org

the following extract is by
Nicholas Wadhams in Nairobi, Kenya
for National Geographic News
December 7, 2007

QUOTE
A new species of spitting cobra—now the largest in the world—has been named by researchers in Kenya and the United Kingdom.

The newly anointed Ashe's spitting cobra, or large brown spitting cobra (Naja ashei), can reach lengths of more than 9 feet (274 centimeters) and is believed to deliver more venom with a single bite than any other cobra on the planet.


You can read the rest of the article by clicking here:

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...-new-cobra.html

QUOTE
The new Naja Ashei species, named after James Ashe who founded the Bio-Ken snake farm in Watamu on the Kenyan coast, produces 6.2 millilitres of liquid venom, which is the among the largest amounts of venom ever extracted from a snake at a single milking.

It confirms Ashe's fears that the Naja Ashei was a different kind of snake that was classified under the wrong species, yet it was qualified to form its own species.


You can read the rest of the above article by clicking here:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j522Eh...h-4xV-6677R926w