C: A snake emerged from beneath a pile of railway tracks stored at the site for ongoing railway maintenance and repair.

D: An Indian Cobra (Naja naja) on a windowsill in the moving Lokshakti Express train near Valsad, Gujarat State, India. Photos by Dikansh S. Parmar (a, b), Sourabh Yadav (c), and Sameer Lakhani (d). Credit: Biotropica (2026). DOI: 10.1111/btp.70157

A snake found in the AC compartment of the Jabalpur—Mumbai Garib Rath Express

Photo source: X screengrab

King cobras are the world's longest venomous snakes. So, imagine seeing one a few feet away as you embark on a train in India. The Western Ghats King Cobra (Ophiophagus kaalinga)—a vulnerable king cobra species found in India's Western Ghats—has reportedly been caught aboard many trains in the Goa region of India. A new study, published in Biotropica, takes a closer look at these reports, where these snakes end up and whether this strange mode of animal migration is putting snakes into unsuitable habitats.

To learn more about the geographical spread of the Western Ghats King Cobra, the researchers compiled 22 years' worth of king cobra rescue records and verified local reports, spanning from 2002 to 2024. They found 47 georeferenced localities for O. kaalinga in Goa, with 18 in North Goa and 29 in South Goa.

Out of these, five king cobra records were found near busy railway corridors. Informal questioning also revealed that local residents reported king cobra encounters in the village and forested areas, but no such reports came from agricultural plots or paddy fields.

In 2017, study author Dikansh Parmar was volunteering with a local animal rescue group that received a call about a snake onboard a train. The incident is now included as part of this study. Another train rescue occurred in 2019, which ended up in a newspaper report in Uttarakhand. An incident occurred in 2023, in which a snake catcher from Gujarat State snapped a picture of an Indian Cobra sitting in a train window.

The study team writes, "With the increased global availability of low-cost smartphones and social media in recent years, the number of reports of snakes on and around trains in India has increased, with three incidents recorded in a 30-day period, and many more emerging on social media."

They also note that a combination of prey, in the form of other snakes and rodents, and shelter might lure a king cobra to enter a goods train at a location near their normal habitat.

"The findings suggest a different, more passive mechanism: railways may act not just as corridors for active movement, but as high-speed conduits. This contrasts with the typically negative impact of roads, which often function as barriers or significant mortality sinks for snakes. The potential for railways to inadvertently connect populations across otherwise unsuitable habitats represents a novel and underappreciated aspect of human-wildlife interaction," the study authors explain.

Clearly, the movement of these snakes to less suitable habitats has implications for the survival of an already vulnerable species. In addition, their presence onboard a train can present a threat to both the snakes and humans on the train. When humans are bitten by king cobras, fatalities can occur within 15 minutes. To avoid a bite, humans will also often resort to killing snakes even when other measures could be taken.

The team notes that the train-transport hypothesis is based on correlative and anecdotal evidence, not direct observation of movement to poorly suited habitats. Still, direct observations have been made of snakes being on trains, and mitigating these occurrences can help reduce risks for snakes and humans alike. The study team discusses the importance of snake rescue organizations and the need for public education on these matters.

Dikansh S. Parmar et al, Snakes on Trains: Railways May Sway Goa's King Cobra Distribution, Biotropica (2026). DOI: 10.1111/btp.70157