by Ms. Clarissa C. Arida
Acting Executive Director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
Amidst vibrant festivities, traditional customs, and culinary delights to welcome the Lunar New Year, we turn our attention to and recognise the unique symbolism of the snake, which holds great importance in various cultures across Southeast Asia.
Snakes are often linked to evil, deception, and temptation. However, beyond a seemingly sinister reputation, they are also associated with wisdom, intuition, transformation, and renewal. In some Southeast Asian cultures, the snake is also revered and seen as a protector. In reality, however, it is ironic that these creatures need protection. Snakes are actually threatened by habitat loss, climate change, and diseases.
Newly discovered species
As we enter a new lunar cycle, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is pleased to announce eight new snake discoveries in the ASEAN and two of the region’s most iconic snake species. By shedding light on these complex creatures, the ACB invites everyone to see the snakes of the ASEAN from a different perspective.
Luzon King Cobra (Ophiophagus salvatana)
In October 2024, researchers made a historic scientific breakthrough by disproving the nearly 200-year belief that there is only one species of King Cobra in the world. Along with three other King cobra species published in the European Journal of Taxonomy, researchers discovered a new species called the Luzon King Cobra (Ophiophagus salvatana) in a coastal forest in the northern Philippines.
Unlike other King Cobra species, the Luzon King Cobra possesses distinct bands on their scales and showcases a striking pale yellowish-grey hue, transitioning from light grey at the head to a darker grey towards the tail.
Renowned for their iconic status across Southeast Asia, King Cobras are known for their rarity in biting incidents; however, when they do strike, the results can be fatal for humans. Endemic to the island of Luzon, this species of King Cobra is not only highly venomous but is also exceptionally large, growing up to 10 feet with a robust body, large flattened head, black tongue, and yellow-ringed eyes. Its preferred habitats range from coastal forests to urban parks and agricultural fields.
Generally, King Cobras have been categorised as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, but conservationists noted that with the discovery of three more species, their conservation status must be reevaluated for proper monitoring, species conservation, and habitat protection. Luzon King Cobra was discovered by a research team composed of Indraneil Das, P. Gowri Shankar, Priyanka Swamy, Rhiannon Williams, Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga, P. Prashanth, Gunanidhi Sahoo, S.P. Vijayakumar, Jacob Höglund, Kartik Shanker, Sushil Dutta, S.R. Ganesh and Wolfgang Wüster.
Sunda King Cobra (Ophiophagus bungarus)
One of the four King Cobra species in the world, the Sunda King Cobra (Ophiophagus bungarus), is a highly-venomous snake discovered by researchers inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, the Greater Sunda Islands including Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, Thailand, Singapore, and in southern Philippines.
It is a large species, with no distinct bands or sometimes multiple narrow light-coloured bands with dark edges along its body. Sundra King Cobra has about more than 70 bands, while its juveniles can have between 100 and 135 bands.
As a member of the King Cobra family, it is said to release a large dose of venom in a single bite that can kill a human in as little as 15 minutes. Since it preys on other snakes, it also plays a significant ecological role in controlling the population of other snakes. This new species was discovered by the same team that discovered the Luzon Kung Cobra who published their work in the European Journal of Taxonomy.
Indochinese Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon neomaculatus)
Another 2024 discovery, the Indochinese Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon neomaculatus), is a nocturnal snake that can be found in rainforests and lowland forests, plantations, rice fields, abandoned structures, and the edges of cultivated areas and villages. It is medium-sized, about three feet in length, with an oblong-shaped head, large nostrils, and a long tail. It varies in colour from black to grey to dark brown and includes speckled white bands.
At night, it crawls on the forest floor or climbs forest bushes. During the day, it hides under rocks, wood, or plants. This snake is considered a non-venomous predator, and its regular diet includes amphibians, lizards, small snakes, and birds.
Its scientific name “neomaculatus” comes from the Greek word “neo” meaning new, and the Latin “maculatus” or blotched, signifying that it is a new species discovery. Its common name refers to the area where it lives—in the Indochina region of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam). They also occur in southern parts of China and eastern Myanmar. The research team who discovered this new species were Tan Van Nguyen, Justin Lee, Olivier Pauwels, Stevie Kennedy-Gold, Nikolay Poyarkov, Patrick David, and Gernot Vogel.
Blue-lipped Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus cyanolabris)
Discovered in a coastal forest in Viet Nam, this bright grass-green snake with a reddish tail, blue lips, and yellow eyes is something new to our eyes. Small and slender, the Blue-lipped Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus cyanol abris) has triangular heads and flattened snouts. This new species was named from the Latin words “cyaneus” and “labrum” due to its distinctive blue patches.
The Blue-lipped Green Pit Viper thrives in coastal forests, on rocks near rivers, in bushes, and on the ground. It is most active at twilight or after dark. In the daytime, it perches on low tree branches or in hollow trees. It is venomous and feeds on small frogs and lizards and can only be found in several areas of southern and central Viet Nam.
Researchers include Sabira Idiiatullina, Tan Van Nguyen, Andrey Bragin, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Dac Xuan Le, Gernot Vogel, Patrick David and Nikolay Poyarkov, found that this new species had at least 6% genetic divergence from other pit vipers.
Lanna Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus lanna)
The Lanna Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus Ianna) is another new snake species found at the Siriphum Waterfall, Doi Inthanon National Park, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. It is also prevalent in Myanmar and Lao PDR. Its name, “Ianna” is given in reference to the Lan Na Kingdom or “Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields”. Also called Lannathai, the Kingdom of Lan Na was very influential in present-day northern Thailand from the 13th–18th centuries with territories and cultural influences spreading from easternmost Myanmar to northern Lao PDR and southernmost present-day Yunnan of China, a geographic area that matches well the range of the new species.
Pope’s Green Pit Viper has a deep green colour at the back without crossbands. Like other pit vipers, this new species is nocturnal and will vibrate its tail when threatened. It is also arboreal, meaning it lives in trees, usually in forests or mountainous regions. Its diet consists of frogs, lizards, birds, rats, squirrels, and other rodents. This new species was discovered by Idiiatullina, Nguyen, Pawangkhanant, Suwannapoom, Chanhome, Mirza, David, Vogel & Poyarkov in 2024.
Kra Isthmus Pit Viper (Trimeresurus kraensis)
Another discovery in 2024 is the Kra Isthmus Pit Viper (Trimeresurus kraensis), a pit viper that dwells in karsts found in the Isthmus of Kra, Chumphon Province of Peninsular Thailand. This species is distinguished from other pit vipers due to its physical traits. It has green-coloured skin at the back with reddish-brown or purple crossbands. Its belly is light green with stripes at the side of its abdomen. Its eyes are pale copper while its tail is brown with dark purplish-brown crossbars.
The Kra Isthmus Pit Viper thrives in karst habitats that are unique and are nowhere else to be found due to their isolation. It was discovered by Sabira Idiiatullina, Tan Van Nguyen, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Lawan Chanhome, Zeeshan Mirza, Patrick David, Gernot Vogel, and Nikolay Poyarkov.
Cave Kukri Snake (Oligodon speleoserpens)
Cave Kukri Snake (Oligodon speleoserpens) is medium brown with a lighter colour towards the head, which is oblong-shaped and has black borders on its individual scales. This snake has a shortened snout, which is its distinguishing mark from the other known Oligodon snakes. It also has eight teeth in its jaw, and the back teeth are enlarged and shaped like blades. This snake was said to come from an extremely rare clade or group of animals coming from the same common ancestor, so little is known about them in general.
Its name was derived from a specimen found in a limestone cave. This new species is specially adapted to the harsh cave environment, and its strongly keeled ventral scales enable it to climb rocks. Cave Kukri Snake was discovered by Parinya Pawangkhanant, Nikolay Pawangkhanant, Nikolay Poyarkov, Harry Ward-Smith, Rupert Grassby-Lewis, Montri Sumontha, Nikita Kliukin, Sabira Idiiatullina, Alexei Trofimets, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, and Justin Lee.
Dak Krong Mud Snake (Myrrophis dakkrongensis)
The Dak Krong Mud Snake (Myrrophis dakkrongensis) was named after the Dak Kong River System in southern Viet Nam, where it was found. Its local name in Viet Namese is “Rắn bồng đắk krông.”
This medium-sized mud snake, measuring 17.8 inches, is from the Homalopsidae family. These are usually stout-bodied water snakes and are mildly venomous. They have smooth back skin called dorsal scales and 17 or 18 maxillary teeth. Males have marginally longer tails than females.
The Dak Krong mud snake is the third and newest species of mud snake from the genus Myrrophis which is common in northern Viet Nam and southern China. This particular species is currently known only from its type locality in Dak Nong Province, but it is expected to occur in other places within the Dak Krong basin. This river system originates from the Dak Nong and Dak Lak provinces and merges with the Mekong River via Cambodia’s Tonle Srepok River—a major tributary of the Mekong River. The research team that discovered this snake species included Sang Ngoc Nguyen, Manh Van Le, Amy Lathrop, Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo, Robert W. Murphy, and Jing Che.
Iconic Snakes of Southeast Asia
Burmese Python (Python bivittatus)
Southeast Asia is home to one of the largest snakes in the world—the Burmese Python (Python bivittatus). Although large and heavily-bodied, they are known to be calm species with good parenting skills. They usually have dark brown with patches of beige in the skin and two lines that run horizontally on the head, across each eye. They live in dry forests, mountains, and open grasslands of Southeast Asia particularly in Cambodia, in Indonesia (Bali, Java, Sulawesi), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
The Burmese python has two lungs and can grow up to 4 feet with females weighing heavier than the males. These snakes eat different kinds of birds and mammals and can even consume large animals such as pigs and deer by suffocation since they are non-venomous. They are nocturnal rainforest dwellers and are excellent swimmers, being able to stay submerged for up to half an hour. They spend most of their time hidden in shrubs and small trees and in colder areas, the Burmese python may stay inactive for some months during the cold season in a hollow tree, a hole in the riverbank, or under rocks. They can live up to 20 years.
The Burmese python is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and their population is threatened by loss of natural habitat, pet trade, and growing human population.
Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus)
Found in South and Southeast Asia, the Reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus), or retic for short, is the world’s longest-living snake, able to survive for around 20 years.
Its colour varies but the most common ones are olive green, black, white, tan, yellow, gold, and brown. The head is elongated with orange eyes and a dark like down the middle and orange eyes with vertical pupils. It often has an irregular diamond geometric pattern at the back with dark and light accents.
It is usually 1.5 to 6.5 metres long but can reach up to 9.8 metres long. This non-venomous nocturnal giant is considered the third heaviest snake in the world after the Green Anaconda and the Burmese Python. It thrives in tropical rainforests, wetlands, and grassland forests and inhabits small islands within its range. Being an excellent swimmer, it usually hides in a body of water for protection and when hunting prey. It is a solitary creature that feeds on mammals, birds, and rats. For a smaller python, Indian civets, bearcats, primates, and pigs are part of its natural diet.
The retic is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List due to its wide distribution in almost all ASEAN countries—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. However, this python is one of the most commonly hunted globally because of its skin, its traditional medicinal value, and for being sold as pets.
Fostering inclusivity and sustainability
This year also marks the fifth time Malaysia has assumed the ASEAN Chairmanship. This year’s theme, “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” reflects interdependent and mutually reinforcing values that can be embedded across the three pillars of the ASEAN Community: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).
The ASEAN-Malaysia Chairmanship 2025 focuses on three priorities: first, maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity in the region through sustained dialogues, diplomacy, and goodwill; second, increasing trade and investment within the ASEAN region and exploring and expanding economic partnerships beyond the region; and third, promoting development, growth, and prosperity for the benefit for all sectors of society.
As we welcome the new year under Malaysia’s leadership, let us embrace the theme of inclusivity by advocating for the conservation of these iconic and remarkable snakes of the ASEAN. While often misunderstood, snakes play crucial roles in maintaining the region’s rich biodiversity and ecosystem health, cultural heritage, and environmental sustainability. It is high time to go beyond what meets the eye and further raise awareness so that we can all commit to sustainable practices that pave the way for human communities to coexist with wildlife and be able to live in harmony with nature in one common home.
Happy Year of the Snake!
