Summary ⁶

The rinkhals(Hemachatus haemachatus), also called the ringhals or ring-necked spitting cobra, is a venomous elapid species found in parts of southern Africa. It is not a true cobra in that it does not belong to the genus Naja, but instead belongs to the monotypic genus Hemachatus. However, it is closely related to the true cobras and is considered to be one of the true spitting cobras.

Range description ⁷

This species is endemic to southern Africa. It is found through most of eastern South Africa, including the separate countries in that area. It is also distributed along the southwest Cape. An isolated population is located in Inyanga, in Zimbabwe next to the Mozambique border. D. Broadley (pers. comm. to Ineich 1996) doubts that this species occurs in Mozambique. This species is found between sea level and 2,500 m above sea level.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Stéfan van der Walt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/69914097@N00/3075734216
2. (c) 2001 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=31819&one=T
3. (c) Nick Schaller, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Nick Schaller
4. (c) Johnny Wilson, all rights reserved, uploaded by Johnny Wilson
5. (c) Hectonichus, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Elapidae_-_Hemachatus_haemachatus.JPG
6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemachatus_haemachatus
7. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34492657

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Snake Database
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

Range Map

(c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-SA)

iNat Map