Blue Krait

The blue krait, also known as the Malayan krait, is a highly venomous but common species that occurs in Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. It is found in lowland to upper-level rainforest throughout the Peninsular, including its surrounding islands.

This species has broad black bands across a white body, sometimes with yellowish patches. The ventrals are whitish while the head is completely dark in colour, differentiating it from the similar looking banded krait. It feeds primarily on snakes and skinks in the wild.

Of the ‘Big Four’ dangerous snakes found in India, the Common Krait is the most venomous. Its venom – a powerful neurotoxin – is supposed to be fifteen times more virulent than that of the Common Cobra, making it probably the most venomous snake in Asia and earning it a rank among the deadliest snakes of our planet!

Paradoxically, this deadly snake is also the most placid and gentle of the ‘Big Four’. I’ve seen some snake handlers lift wild Kraits by slipping their bare fingers under the snake’s mid-body. Even the Irulas with whom I trained, would handle this snake exercising half the caution and twice the gentleness they normally kept for a Cobra or a Russell’s viper.