A team of South African serpent research worker unwittingly give away that cobras in the region are quite prone to cannibalism after they stumble onto a picture of one mantle cobra contently swallowing another .

In the ensuing study , now published in the journalEcology , the trey of biologists narrate how this serendipitous observance has shifted perception of ophidian behavior and afford the door for a new orbit of research .

“ During fieldwork in January 2018 , we found ourselves at our study site in South Africa ’s Kalahari Desert in lookup of cape cobra ( Naja nivea ) and boomslang ( Dispholidus typus ) to surgically implant with wireless - transmitter . While searching for snakes one morning , we were alerted by a tour guide via radio set to the bearing of ‘ two heavy yellow snakes defend ’ , ” they wrote .

“ However , arriving some 15 minutes later , we were greeted not by two male in ritualize combat as initially expected , but rather by a declamatory male ness cobra in the operation of eat up a small-scale male conspecific . Instead of catch two potential study creature , we ascertain one well - fed study animal , now know as NN011 , or more nonchalantly , Hannibal . ”

intrigue by the sight of a 1.7 - meter ( 5.6 - foot ) long cobra chowing down on a 1.3 - metre ( 4.3 - pes ) individual of the same coinage , lead author Bryan Maritz and his colleagues decide to investigate if such an occurrence is truly a rarified anomaly , as previous study have intimate , or if it is perhaps more common than we ever imagined .

Due to the elusive nature of wild snakes and the fact that they only eat infrequently , it has always been difficult for scientist to document their born feeding habits . Based on the circumscribed reflection that have been account , scientist conclude that ness cobra on a regular basis place other snake species . Indeed , according to one late review , other snake in the grass make up as much as one - third of their diet . But because of the high jeopardy of harm tie in with attacking dead play off prey , it was assume that most snakes evolved an inherent aptitude to avoid cannibalism unless presented with an light chance .

“ The total number of observations of cobras wipe out in the natural state is n’t a big number , and the observations of cannibalism in the wild are even rare , so I think it ’s promiscuous to disregard as a one - off thing , ” Maritz toldScience News .

To get to the bottom of this mystery story , Maritz ’s group abrade through info from published scientific reports , minor and difficult to access publications , and posts from a social media mathematical group make to collect report of wild reptile hunting conduct witnessed by other scientists and laypeople . Although there are around 30 species of cobra establish throughout Africa and Asia , they chose to focalize on six species chance in South Africa that belong to the " true " cobra genus , Naja .

The results of their datum analysis indicate that all six types – the ness cobra , Anchieta ’s   cobra , snouted cobra , Mozambique spitting cobra , zebra spatter cobra , and brown timber cobra – readily act on other snakes for snacks .

“ We found that Snake answer for for 13 - 43 % of all prey coinage find in the diet of wild cobra , ” they wrote . All case save for the zebra spitting cobra were found to deplete members of their own coinage . Curiously , all cannibalistic events were between male cobras , a traffic pattern Maritz hope to research in future enquiry .

“ I could see it playing a role in competition for resources or mate , " he state Science News . " What proficient way to get ahead in life [ than to ] eat the guy who is taking your food and mating with females that you might want to mate with ? ”

[ H / T : Science News ]