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.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

[NaveenYoYoDude]

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

[nidhirao]

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 😌

[nonicheyoutuber]

1:37 he really said the KING was kind😂😂👊

[mspears_bobobuddytheseniorcat]

He’s incredibly blessed to have survived!

[Amaljose]

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

[NewtonMD]

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

[flyme]

This guy is the real king going after the majestic king 👍

[mcmaschio]

… goosebumbs after seeing that first clip .. cant get through this video .. 😣

[abhishekhire]

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

[lexidvnt]

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

[Overonator]

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.

[rammohang]

In our village if any one is bitten by a cobra snake that person would be taken to the nearby village Tholeru for treating cobra bites. They give a root of a plant for the person to chew. It has to be chewed on till they feel bitterness. When the venom is high in the body that root feels tasteless and as the person keeps on chewing the juices of the root act as anti-venom. When the venom is neutralized the root feels very bitter. Surrounding village's people rely on this doctor for treating snake bites.

[deepakm]

Why do some people spam every video on King Cobra with comments on Vava Suresh? There are plenty of videos about him

[QuotableVision]

🎀Psychology says
"The very last person on your mind before you close your eyes at night is either the reason of your happiness or pain ."💎

[vmwindustries]

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

[muhamadagung]

What a great attitude! Regardless of whether it is a dry or wet bite of king cobra, it is very difficult for anyone to recover from a life-threatening event. After that incident, he even think of being able to protect the habitat and preserve the king cobra which bit him previously. Maybe we can learn from this man that we don't have to repay evil with evil. We better do good for it so that it brings many benefits to the welfare and sustainability of life in this nature.

[gurumurthykalyanaraman]

Excellent Video and Excellent effort !! Respect a lot.

[scherukodan]

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.

[devonchejameson]

Why are you not more well known, you are a hero of nature sir!

[brazosforager]

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