Under One Roof

By Rithan Bopanna K.G.

One humid afternoon, we received a call from a community member about two massive king cobras inside a house. My colleague Ajay Giri, Abhi, and I swiftly packed our snake rescue gear and rushed to the site, knowing that the king cobra combat season had just begun. The call came from Hariharapura, a village quite far from the town of Shimoga in Karnataka, surrounded by tea estates and jungle. It's a dense area with minimal human activity, so it was not surprising that they stumbled upon a king cobra. When we arrived, the Ajji (elderly lady) of the house told us she had seen two snakes mating inside – but we soon realised it wasn’t mating. It was, as we had suspected, combat: two males fighting for a female. Classic king cobra drama!

As we stepped into the house – an old structure with mud walls – we spotted one snake coiled up.  The house was a maze of dark corners and hiding spots, so the other snake could have been anywhere. After searching for a few minutes, just when we were about to give up, Abhi, our tracker who also works with the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), suddenly screamed, “The female is here!”

Rithan conducting a snake awareness session at a school. Photo: Rithan Bopanna K.G.

We rushed to the room, and yes – there she was: the female king cobra, coiled up beneath the huge male. The mystery was solved. The combat had happened because the female had accidentally wandered into the house. What Ajji had actually witnessed was a male combat involving two males, and when such combat occurs, the female is usually nearby. By the time we reached the location, the combat had already ended. We could see only one male and the female. The other male was hiding somewhere, but we couldn't find him.

Now, we had to make a decision – but only with the landlord’s approval, none other than Ajji. We told her about the king cobra’s breeding habits, and after an hour of chatting, Ajji looked at us and said, “Let’s not catch the snakes. Let them do their thing. We’ll manage.”

That moment felt like a huge win for us and our work at ARRS, where we've been dedicated to human-snake conflict mitigation and king cobra conservation for over 19 years through rescues, research, and community awareness.

The next morning, I woke up early and raced to the house. When I got there, I was shocked to see only the female. I quickly called Ajay Giri, Field Director of ARRS, to let him know. He asked me to search thoroughly and not miss any possible hiding places. We knew the male had a way out – but there were still tons of places to hide. I really didn’t want to end up face-to-face with that massive male, so I searched every corner – basically everywhere you wouldn’t expect a snake. And of course, that’s exactly where they end up, right?

After half an hour, I found him coiled tight in the attic. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. I called the family in to let them know, and they were completely relaxed. “Oh, okay, so he’s just hanging out in the attic. Not a big deal!”

Rithan interacting with the local community after the team rescued a snake. Photo: Rithan Bopanna K.G.

As the sun rose, the female slipped out of the house, leaving the male behind. The family spent their second night with a king cobra under their roof, and I couldn’t help but think, this is wild. Literally!

The next morning, I was in Hariharapura early again, and guess what? The male began moving once it got warmer. By evening, he finally left.

Three days and two nights of living under the same roof as king cobras – how crazy is that? It took patience, courage, and a lot of back-and-forth conversations, but we did it. We respected the breeding season, and most importantly, we made sure the family was safe.

A true example of human-snake coexistence! Thanks to Ajji and her open-mindedness, these three kings were able to live out their natural lives… right inside human habitation. And thanks to Agumbe Rainforest Research Station and its work, there are more and more people like Ajji – people who appreciate and respect these snakes, and understand that this is, first and foremost, their habitat.

Male king cobra moving out of the house. Photo: Rithan Bopanna K.G.

As part of its work in conservation and research, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust has established four field stations in India dedicated to the study of reptiles. One of them is the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) in the Western Ghats – the first in the world to study king cobra ecology and behaviour using radio telemetry. ARRS is more than just a research station, it’s a place where science, community, and conservation meet. Whether you’re a volunteer, intern, researcher, or nature enthusiast, you’re welcome to participate. Come walk the rainforest trails, listen to the cicadas, and maybe, just maybe, witness a story like Ajji’s for yourself. You never know what kind of wildlife story you’ll be a part of.

Rithan Bopanna KG is a herp enthusiast currently based at the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station. He focuses on snakebite mitigation programmes, snake conservation, community outreach, and environmental education, aiming to shift perceptions about reptiles and promote coexistence. When not rescuing snakes or leading awareness programmes, he finds joy in herping and birding.