“GPS-chip” for the comprehensive study of king cobra

Team Udayavani, Oct 21, 2019, 8:58 AM IST

Research by Agumbe rain forest research centre to gather information regarding the lifestyle, diet and reproduction method of the serpent

Kundapur: The world’s largest population of king cobra is in Agumbe located on the Western Ghats and in order to carry out a comprehensive study of the species, 2 male king cobras have been fitted with GPS chips.

Agumbe rain forest research centre has taken up this research project and installed the GPS chip weighing 20 gm on the snakes. The aim of the project is to collecting comprehensive information regarding the lifestyle, diet and reproduction method of the species.

What is this chip?

Almost 6 months ago, two wild king cobras were caught, the GPS chip weighing 20 gm was fitted on their back and left in Megaravalli and Tallurangadi forest area in Agumbe. The snaked with the installed chip will be monitored for the next 3 years. Two persons will be monitoring the snakes daily and gathering information from 7:30 am in the morning to 6 pm in the evening.

Pit tag for census

In order to carry out a snake census, 183 snakes in the vicinity of Agumbe have been fitted with pit tags. Every snake wit this tag will have a unique identity number. Hence, no matter were a king cobra is caught in this area, a team from the centre will come and scan the snake and in case, the snake is fitted with a pit tag, its unique identity number will be shown. A team of 7 is conducting this research. Snakes weighing to a maximum of 16 kg have also been identified through the pit tags, informs the base manager of the centre Jaikumar.

Due to pit tag research

It has been found out that the number of female king cobras is less than male king cobras. According to the present information, there are only 3 female king cobras for 100 male king cobras. Through the use of the chip, research is being conducted to ascertain the cause behind this disparity in gender numbers – Ajaygiri. Research Director, Agumbe Rain Forest Research Centre