CreatureData

Cape cobra

Naja nivea (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernsnakes

The cape cobra (Naja nivea) is a snake in the family Elapidae, part of the suborder Serpentes within the order Squamata of the reptiles. Its lifespan is given as 24.8 years, with values of up to 26 years reported by our sources.

Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Photo: Ryan van Huyssteen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the cape cobra

A litter or clutch numbers 11.5 young or eggs, and egg incubation lasts 57.5 days. The IUCN Red List assesses the cape cobra globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
24.8 years – 26 yearssrc for Lifespan
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
desertsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
57.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
11.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the cape cobra

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Mister-E · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Mister-E · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cape cobra (Naja nivea)
Hp.Baumeler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the cape cobra live?

Not recorded

What is the cape cobra?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Cape cobra (Naja nivea), also called the yellow cobra, is a moderate-sized, highly venomous species of cobra inhabiting a wide variety of biomes across southern Africa, including arid savanna, fynbos, bushveld, desert, and semidesert regions.

The species is diurnal and is a feeding generalist, preying on a number of different species and carrion. Predators of this species include birds of prey, honey badgers, and various species of mongooses. The Cape cobra is also known as the geelslang (yellow snake) and bruinkapel (brown cobra) in South Africa. Afrikaans-speaking South Africans also refer to the Cape cobra as koperkapel (copper cobra), mainly because of a rich yellow colour variation. This species has no known subspecies.

From the Wikipedia article “Cape cobra” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cape_cobra&oldid=1382230104), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the cape cobra endangered?

The cape cobra is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the cape cobra classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classReptilia
  4. orderSquamata
  5. familyElapidae
  6. genusNaja
  7. SpeciesNaja nivea (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Coluber niveus, Naia flava, Naja flava, Naja gutturalis, Naja haje var. capensis, Naja intermixta, Vipera flava

Other names and names in other languages (22)
  • GeelslangAfrikaans
  • Kaapse KobraAfrikaans
  • KoperkapelAfrikaans
  • ناشر رأس الرجاء الصالحArabic
  • kobra kapskáCzech
  • Gul KobraDanish
  • KapkobraGerman
  • Kap-KobraGerman
  • Cobra del CaboSpanish
  • ViherkobraFinnish
  • Cobra du CapFrench
  • fokföldi kobraHungarian
  • Cobra del SudafricaItalian
  • ケープコブラJapanese
  • KappkobraNorwegian Bokmål
  • Kaapse cobraDutch
  • Капская кобраRussian
  • KakeTswana
  • kake wa dikakaTswana
  • kake wa kapaTswana
  • umDlezinyeXhosa
  • 黃金眼鏡蛇Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the cape cobra

Other species in the same genus Naja.

CompareCape cobra vs Indian cobraCape cobra vs Egyptian cobraCape cobra vs Forest cobraCape cobra vs Black-necked spitting cobra

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the cape cobra?

The cape cobra is a snake, a reptile in the family Elapidae and the genus Naja.

What is the scientific name of the cape cobra and who named it?

The scientific name is Naja nivea, with the authority written as (Linnaeus, 1758).

Is the cape cobra endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

How long does a cape cobra live?

Its lifespan is given as 24.8 years, and our sources report values of up to 26 years.

How many eggs does a cape cobra have?

A litter or clutch numbers 11.5 young or eggs.

How long do Cape cobra eggs take to hatch?

The egg incubation period is 57.5 days.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cape cobra (Naja nivea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-cobra

MLA

“Cape cobra (Naja nivea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-cobra.

BibTeX
@misc{cape_cobra_2026,
  title = {Cape cobra (Naja nivea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-cobra},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}