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King Cobra
King cobras avoid humans, but when cornered they can deliver enough venom in their bite to kill 20 people. They can also move forward while looking a 6-foot-tall (1.8-meter-tall) person in the eye, a third of their body raised up off the ground. Found in India, southern China, and Southeast Asia, king cobras are the only snakes in the world to build nests for their eggs.
Photograph by Mattias Klum

Snakes

See snake pictures (including cobras, anacondas, and pythons) in this photo gallery from National Geographic.

Published November 18, 2009