1. Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii)
Highly Venomous
Regional Names: Dighad
Family: Viperidae
Distribution: It is widely distributed in
lowlands across the Indian subcontinent, including some parts of northeast India,
and is also found in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
WLPA: Schedule II
IUCN: Not Evaluated (NE)
Venom: Hemotoxic Venom
Morphology:
Its body is robust,
thicker than most snakes, and covered with highly keeled, dry-looking scales.
Its head is triangular, anteriorly pointed, clearly broader than the neck, and
covered with small keeled scales. Its eyes are of medium size and bear vertical
pupils. Its whole upper body is brown, reddish-brown, yellow, or grey, and except for the tail, it is distinctly marked with three series of hollow, rounded, or
almond-shaped blotches, which is a very reliable character to quickly recognise it from a distance. Its underside is creamy-white with some ventral scales marked
with semi-lunar black patches at random places.
2. Common Krait (Bungarus
caeruleus)
Highly Venomous
Regional Names: Shankhuvarayan,
Vellikettan, Kattuvirayan (Malayalam). Hindi: Karait, Kaili, Kaal Gandheraaj.
Marathi: Manyar
Family: Elapidae
Distribution: It is widely
distributed in most of the Indian Subcontinent, excluding the Northeast regions. It
is also found in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
WLPA: Schedule IV
IUCN: Least Concern (LC)
Venom: Neurotoxic
Morphology:
A medium-sized snake that grows up to
150 cm but is usually found within a 100 cm range. Its body is glossy bluish-black
with milky white bands in pairs on the underside, while it is plain white on the top.
Its head is not much broader than the neck and bears entirely black eyes of
medium size.
Highly Venomous
Regional Names: Churuttamandali,
Shofamandali (Malayalam)
Family: Viperidae
Distribution: It is widely
distributed in low- to mid-elevations of most of the Indian mainland except the
northeast states and Himalayan foothills. Also, it is reported from a few parts
of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
WLPA: Schedule IV
IUCN: Least Concern
(LC)
Venom: Hemotoxic Venom
Morphology:
It is a small snake that can grow up
to about 60 cm. But individuals above 50 cm are rare. Newly born individuals are
around 8-9 cm. Its body is short, relatively thick, and dry in appearance due to
highly keeled scales, and it ends with a short tail. Its upper body is
reddish-brown or brown with a series of white-yellow blotches throughout the
length. These blotches are guarded by white wavy lines throughout. Its underbody is creamy white or light yellow, usually with dark-colored dots. Its head
is typically like other vipers—triangular and clearly broader than the neck.
Its eyes are medium-sized and bear vertical pupils. A "plus" shaped
mark on the top of the head is a useful feature to quickly recognize from
a safe distance.
Highly Venomous
Regional Names: Hindi: Naag.
Family: Elapidae
Distribution: It is widely distributed across most of India, including some parts of the northeast states, and also found in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
WLPA: Schedule II
IUCN: Least Concern (LC)
Venom: Neurotoxic
Venom
Morphology:
It is a large-sized snake that is
usually found in the 120-150 cm range. Newborn individuals are about 25-30 cm. Its
body is slender and uniformly thick from head to mid-body. Its colour is
variable according to the region. In South India and coastal regions, it is
found in a yellow-brown colour range and sometimes found with fine dark markings.
In central and northern India, it is found in dark chocolate brown or black
colour. It raises a hood when threatened, and then it can be easily identified.
When not raising the hood, it can be identified by checking the head and neck of
the same breadth, rounded snout, and patternless lips.
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