Philippine Cobra Facts

Philippine Cobra Profile

Cobras were once thought to have originated in Africa. Indeed, Africa has some of the best cobras in the world: the Egyptian cobra, the Zebra snake, and the forest cobra, to name just a few. But recent research has pulled this assumption into question. It is now being considered that the origin of cobras may well have been Asia, and they migrated into Africa from there.

Regardless of where they come from, Asia has its own fair share of fantastic cobras. The monocled and Indian cobras are well-known icons, but in the northern regions of the Philippines, there’s a mid-sized, unassuming little cobra that has no trouble reminding us of the true nature of elapids. This is the Philippine cobra.

Philippine Cobra Facts Overview

The Philippine cobra, Naja philippinensis, is a true Naja cobra, and a close relative of the so-called “southern Philippine cobra”, which we will consider separately. This plain brown, shy snake is everything cobras are known for: elusive, eager to avoid confrontation, but extremely capable of winning one.

Unfortunately, they are persecuted for defending themselves and their populations are in decline. But this is a powerful, intelligent snake with a lot more going for it than just a bad reputation.

Interesting Philippine Cobra Facts

1. They’re Elapids

There are 30 families of snakes, with three major families containing most of the famous and infamous venomous ones.

Most snakes belong to the Colubridae family, which has some serious killers like the Boomslang in it, but these are the exception, and most colubrids are non-venomous.

The Viperidae family contains all the rattlesnakes and other vipers.

And then there are the Elapids.

The Elapidae family probably contains the highest proportion of very venomous snakes. It contains all the cobras, mambas, the eastern brown snake, the Inland Taipan (almost all venomous Australian snakes) and the cobras.

The Philippine cobra is a true cobra, and a member of a genus that includes some of the largest venomous snakes on earth.

But this one isn’t enormous. In fact, it’s quite petite.

2. They’re kinda cute

The Philippine cobra averages around a metre in length. It is a pretty boring, earthy shade of brown and generally quite a shy animal.

Like all snakes, it will avoid confrontation where possible, and unlike the vipers, who tend to rely on camouflage and can sometimes get stepped on, it will flee enthusiastically from a fight with a person.

Philippine cobras spend their days perusing sparsely-wooded spaces or agricultural fields in search of rats and other vertebrates to eat. But as meek as they are in nature, they can and do fight when cornered. And they bring a ranged weapon with them.

3. They can spit

This medium-sized cobra is no less of a serious opponent when in conflict with a person. Like other cobras, they can rear up and flatten their cervical vertebrae into a threatening hood.

But more than this, they can spit venom up to three metres, which has earned them one of their other names, the Philippine spitting cobra. Some sources even say it is the most accurate of the spitting cobras, though this seems unsubstantiated.

So far it seems that only females have been witnessed spitting, but this isn’t information you should rely on!

And regardless of whether it’s spat or injected, this is a venom you really should steer clear of. ¹

4. They’re potentially dangerous

As with all snakes, venom toxicity varies across individuals of the same species. Elapids, though, are known to often be highly toxic, typically with a venom that leans more towards neurotoxic than tissue toxic (vipers tend to be the opposite – but this isn’t a fixed rule!).

Despite the variation within the species, the Philippine cobra is considered to have one of the most toxic venoms of any cobra, administering, on average, twice the LD50 of venom when injected into the veins.

Fortunately, most bites inject it into the tissue and not directly into the bloodstream, which means that most people survive a bite – in one study of 39 bites, only two died, but this is not a fun ride for the survivors, by any means.

Symptoms of a bite from one of these snakes include headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and all the things you’d expect from a neurotoxin, including paralysis of the diaphragm, which was seen in 19 of the patients assessed.

Many of the victims had no local swelling and only three developed any necrosis around the bite wound, which tracks with the assumed venom cocktail of cobras.

As you’d expect, with such unpleasant outcomes, the local populations consider this snake a bit of a jerk. This is, of course, unfairly attributed to an animal that’s just trying to defend itself against the rampant spread of our species, but humans will human, blaming the snake will always take priority over self-reflection. ²

6. They’re not very popular

One of the major threats to this species, which actually does pretty well in agricultural zones, is the direct persecution of the locals. Philippine cobras keep paddyfields free from rats, but due to negative interactions, this isn’t enough, and farmers will hunt them and kill them regardless.

They’re also hunted for food, and to a small degree for the pet trade.

All of these threats cumulate to a declining population and a current listing by the IUCN of Near Threatened. ³

Philippine Cobra Fact-File Summary

Scientific Classification

1. (2025), “Philippine cobra”,BioDB.
2. Padre et al (1988), “Bites by the Philippine cobra (Naja naja philippinensis): prominent neurotoxicity with minimal local signs ”, National Library of Medicine.
3. Cruz et al (2021), “Northern Philippine Cobra”, IUCN RedList.