# Forest cobra (*Naja melanoleuca*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-cobra  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca) is a snake in the family Elapidae and genus Naja, within the order Squamata and class Reptilia. It is a medium-sized reptile by adult body mass, with a representative adult weight of 6.96 kg. Its eggs have an incubation period of 76 days, and the representative value for young per litter or eggs per clutch is 19.5. The forest cobra has a lifespan of 22.1 years, with values up to 29.1 years reported, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 6.96 kg |
| Length | 2.24 m |
| Lifespan | 22.1 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 35 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland, shrubland |
| Egg incubation | 76 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 18.5 – 19.5 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Elapidae
- genus: Naja
- species: *Naja melanoleuca* Hallowell, 1857

Synonyms: *Boulengerina melanoleuca*, *Naia haie var. melanoleuca*, *Naia melanoleuca*, *Naja annulata*, *Naja haje melanoleuca*, *Naja haje var. leucosticta*, *Naja haje var. melanoleuca*, *Naja leucostica*, *Naja melanoleuca aurata*, *Naja melanoleuca melanoleuca*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the forest cobra?

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

### How heavy is the forest cobra?

The forest cobra has a representative adult body mass of 6.96 kg, which places it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).

### How long does the forest cobra live?

The forest cobra has a lifespan of 22.1 years, and the highest value reported by sources is 29.1 years.

### Is the forest cobra endangered?

No. The forest cobra is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long do forest cobra eggs take to hatch?

Forest cobra eggs have an incubation period of 76 days.

### How many young or eggs does the forest cobra have?

The representative value for young per litter or eggs per clutch in the forest cobra is 19.5.

### Who named the forest cobra?

The forest cobra, Naja melanoleuca, was named by Hallowell, 1857.

### What are other names for the forest cobra?

The forest cobra is also called the black and white cobra, Central Africa forest cobra and Central African forest cobra.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/forest-cobra