Venomous Snakes Settle in Nepal's Hills as Warming Expands Risks

Nine King Cobras Rescued Around Kathmandu Valley

At least 10 highly venomous snakes, nine King Cobras and one Monocled Cobra, have been rescued from locations across Nepal's Kathmandu Valley in the month and a half leading up to June 10, 2025. Their appearance in residential areas, together with discoveries of nests and eggs in nearby forests, points to a growing concern: venomous snakes are settling in places once considered too cold for them.

Dakshinkali Municipality officials confirmed that King Cobras had been rescued from houses and compounds in Gopaleshwor, Bhanjyang, Sokhol and Fulchowk. The snakes were safely released into nearby forests. Local residents have also found King Cobra nests and eggs in surrounding jungles, indicating that the animals are breeding in these higher areas.

King Cobras and Monocled Cobras have traditionally been associated with the hot, humid lowlands of Nepal's Tarai region. Sightings and rescues in hilly and even mountainous areas now suggest a shift in where they can live. For communities encountering them around homes, courtyards and schools, that shift brings an unfamiliar safety concern.

Experts identify climate change as the main force behind the movement. Rising temperatures are making higher ground suitable for snakes that previously depended on warmer environments. The concern extends beyond individual encounters: communities in these areas may need snakebite treatment and prevention measures that have long been more closely associated with the lowlands.

Nests Suggest the Snakes Are Staying

Subodh Acharya, a snake rescue trainer with the Mithila Wildlife Trust who has led many of the recent rescue operations, says some snakes may initially have reached higher areas in transported logs or hay. They have since established permanent habitats in the hills and mountains.

The discoveries of nests and eggs help explain why residents and rescuers are concerned about more than occasional arrivals. Snakes are finding conditions that allow them to remain and reproduce. Rescue operations have become more frequent as the animals turn up close to everyday activities.

The King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, and the Monocled Cobra, Naja kaouthia, typically thrive in environments such as dense forests, swamps and paddy fields. Warmer conditions at higher elevations are allowing these venomous species to survive and breed beyond the tropical lowlands where they have traditionally been found.

Rescuing a snake from a house removes the immediate danger there, while its release into a nearby forest means people using that forest still need to be cautious. The same landscape can contain wildlife habitat, homes and places where residents collect fodder or carry out other daily work.

Why Warmer Hills Are Becoming Suitable Habitat

Nepal is among the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis. Over the past decade and a half, it has experienced a rapid rise in extreme weather events, alongside warming that is changing conditions for people and wildlife.

Scientific evidence shows that maximum temperatures in Nepal are rising faster than minimum temperatures. Hilly and mountainous districts are experiencing particularly rapid increases, reaching up to 0.05 degrees Celsius a year and outpacing the warming recorded in the lowland Terai.

For snakes associated with hot and humid habitats, warmer hills provide new places to live. The explanation is straightforward: as areas that were once colder become warmer, they can support animals previously more closely associated with lower elevations. The nests and eggs found around Kathmandu Valley indicate that suitable conditions now extend to breeding.

Scientists and herpetologists describe the movement into colder, higher areas as a warning about the reach of global warming. They say it is not a random occurrence. Species able to survive and reproduce in new places can change the risks faced by nearby communities and create concerns for biodiversity as well as human safety.

A Longstanding Health Crisis Reaches New Communities

Snakebite already causes a heavy loss of life in Nepal, particularly in the Terai. Around 2,700 people, mostly women and children, die from snakebites each year. Cases are vastly underreported, meaning the true toll is likely higher.

The movement of venomous snakes into higher areas threatens to extend that public health crisis to communities that may be less prepared to respond. A household unfamiliar with dangerous snakes may now encounter one in a courtyard, while a health facility in a hilly district may face new demands for urgent treatment.

Women collecting fodder, farmers and children playing outdoors are among the vulnerable groups. People living in houses with thatched roofs also face risks because these homes can attract snakes searching for food. Encounters can therefore happen during work, play or time spent at home.

Local fear has grown as rescues become more frequent. The practical challenge is to help residents avoid encounters while making sure that anyone bitten reaches medical care quickly. Awareness and access to treatment are closely connected: recognising the danger matters most when a person can also get help without delay.

Why Getting to Hospital Quickly Matters

Most snakebite deaths occur before victims reach a hospital. Limited awareness, poor infrastructure and reliance on traditional healers instead of medical professionals all contribute to delays in receiving treatment.

Dr. Sanjib Kumar Sharma, a snakebite expert with the World Health Organization, stresses that victims need immediate medical attention:

People should be encouraged to rush victims to health facilities immediately following a snakebite, as 80 percent of deaths from snakebites occur before reaching hospitals.

The figure places much of the burden outside hospital walls. Families must recognise the urgency of a bite, choose medical treatment and reach a facility. In rural areas, weak infrastructure makes that journey more difficult.

Rural health facilities also frequently lack doctors, antivenom, ventilator support and dialysis equipment. Antivenom is medicine used to treat the effects of snake venom. Ventilator support helps patients breathe, while dialysis provides support when the kidneys cannot adequately clean the blood. Access to these services is part of the treatment challenge facing areas already affected by snakebite and those now confronting new risks.

Treatment Expands, With Gaps in Antivenom Coverage

Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population has expanded snakebite treatment centres to about a dozen locations in hilly regions and increased stocks of antivenom. The measures respond to the growing threat beyond the country's traditional snakebite hotspots.

Nepal imports quadrivalent antivenom from India. The term means that the medicine covers four snake species; the product used in Nepal is effective against four common Indian snake species. Treatment coverage therefore depends on the kind of snake responsible for the bite.

The imported antivenom does not treat bites from pit vipers. Their presence in the hills, and deaths associated with their bites, are also rising. This leaves an important gap alongside the need for more medical staff, breathing support and other equipment.

The expansion of treatment centres gives more attention to hilly areas, but supplies alone cannot address every obstacle. Patients still need to reach care promptly, and facilities need the staff and equipment required to manage serious cases. No timetable was given for further expansion of the treatment network.

Forest Users and Families Urged to Take Care

Acharya warns that residents need to remain alert when entering forests where rescued snakes have been released. His advice connects the rescue work around homes with the risks facing people who use nearby woodland:

People should be cautious while they are in forests, as rescued venomous snakes have been released there.

Experts recommend practical steps to reduce encounters around homes and during daily activities. Their advice focuses on keeping living areas less attractive to snakes, protecting children and making it easier to see where people are walking.

• Keep homes and their surroundings clean to deter snakes searching for food.
• Prevent children from playing in bushes or tall grass.
• Avoid walking outside at night. When going out is necessary, use a torchlight.
• Seek immediate medical attention after a snakebite instead of consulting shamans or traditional healers.

These precautions address places where people are already encountering snakes: homes, compounds, vegetation and forests. For families in higher areas, prevention needs to become part of daily routines as venomous species establish themselves nearby.

A 2030 Goal Adds Urgency to Local Action

Nepal aims to reduce deaths and disabilities from snakebite envenomation by 50 percent by 2030, in line with the World Health Organization's Snakebite Roadmap. Envenomation means the harmful effects caused when a snake injects venom during a bite.

Public health campaigns and training for local health workers are seen as crucial to reaching that goal. Communities need to recognise the urgency of snakebite, while health workers need to be prepared for patients in places where dangerous encounters may previously have been less familiar.

The Kathmandu Valley rescues bring together two challenges already facing Nepal: a changing climate and an uneven ability to deliver urgent rural healthcare. Warmer hills are providing habitat for venomous snakes, while shortages of treatment resources and delays in reaching hospitals continue to put lives at risk.

The immediate priorities are concrete: reduce encounters, encourage rapid medical care and equip facilities to respond. The discovery of breeding snakes in higher areas makes those priorities relevant to communities beyond the lowlands.

Key Points

• Nine King Cobras and one Monocled Cobra were rescued around Kathmandu Valley in roughly six weeks before June 10, 2025.
• Nests and eggs indicate that King Cobras are breeding in higher areas, with experts identifying warming as the main driver of the habitat shift.
• Temperatures in hilly and mountainous districts are rising by up to 0.05 degrees Celsius a year, faster than in the lowland Terai.
• Around 2,700 people die from snakebites annually in Nepal, mostly women and children, with the true toll likely higher because of underreporting.
• About 80 percent of snakebite deaths occur before patients reach hospital, according to Dr. Sanjib Kumar Sharma.
• Treatment centres have expanded to about a dozen locations in hilly regions, but imported antivenom does not treat pit viper bites.
• Nepal aims to halve snakebite deaths and disabilities by 2030 through measures including public awareness, health worker training and access to treatment.