Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive.
The black mamba takes its name not from the colour of its scales, but from theinterior of its mouth, which is inky-black.
It is also the fastest moving snake in Africa, and one of the fastest moving snakes in the world, capable of moving upto 9.9 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour).
It is the longest species of venomous snake in Africa, and the second-longest venomous snake in the world after the king cobra. They can grow upto 14 feet long (4.25 meters), though their average length is around 8 feet (2.4 m).
As little as 2 drops of its venom can kill a person and a mamba can have up to 20 drops of venom in its fangs.
This snake can lift two-thirds of it's body off the ground when striking.
The snake proteins — called mambalgins — were discovered as part of a search for alternatives to opiate drugs such as morphine. Many patients grow tolerant of opiates, requiring higher doses over time, and the opiate drugs often cause side effects such as nausea, constipation and drug dependency.

We do not see such side effects with mambalgins.

No snake in this world is as deadly, swift and potent as a Black Mamba...
Even the Indian cobra pales significantly in comparison to this snake, which is very elusive, fast moving, very aggressive and can easily be terrestrial or arboreal in nature.
This is an adaptable snake and can survive in a variety of places.

These fearsome snakes can strike up to 12 times in a row. A single bite is capable of killing anywhere from 10-25 adults. The venom is a fast acting neurotoxin. Its bite delivers about 100–120 mg of venom, on average; however, it can deliver up to 400 mg.

This snake very rarely delivers a dry bite and its front facing fangs rarely miss the mark.

It injects venom into its victims every time it strikes, and boy does it strike like lightning..... everytime without fail.

If the venom reaches a vein, 0.25 mg/kg is sufficient to kill a human in 90% of cases. The initial symptom of the bite is local pain in the bite area, although not as severe as snakes with hemotoxins. The victim then experiences a tingling sensation in the mouth and extremities, double vision, tunnel vision, severe confusion, fever, excessive salivation (including foaming of the mouth and nose) and pronounced ataxia (lack of muscle control) and ptosis - drooping eyelids which cannot be opened.

If the victim does not receive immediate medical attention, symptoms rapidly progress to severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, pallor, shock, nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity and paralysis. Eventually, the victim experiences convulsions, respiratory arrest, coma and then death. Without antivenin, the mortality rate is nearly 100%, among the highest of all venomous snakes. Depending on the nature and site of the bite, death can result at any time between 15 minutes and 3 hours.

PS: One interesting thing about black Mambas is that either their feces smell like curry powder or they give of that smell when stressed. One does get a strong whiff of curry powder if a black Mamba is present in an enclosed space like a store room etc.

Black mamba got its name "black" because of the black colour of the inside part of it's mouth

Black mamba travels at a speed of 12 miles/hour

“Jack Seale, a South African herpetologist who was bold enough to sleep in a room full of black mambas without any incidents made medical history.

One day Jack was putting a snake into a cage when his assistant bumped him. He was somewhat distracted which lead him to release the snake’s head ahead of time. A black mamba strikes so fast that before he knew it, he was bitten on the ankle. I am pretty sure Jack knew that he would die within minutes without proper treatment. He injected himself with antivenom and adrenaline to counter attack the toxins.

Jack had a theory in which he believed that since the black mamba’s venom attacks nerve function without damaging body tissue, he thought that life support could keep a person alive until the body worked to flush the toxins out. A doctor who heard his lecture about this theory quickly put Jack in life support.

Jack went unconscious or so they thought for a whole week but he could hear everything. Doctors considered pulling the plug on him since he was declared clinically dead on the second day. He listened to everything that they had said, while wondering the entire time how many people had been buried alive. This must have been a pretty crazy thought. On the 8th day, Jack managed to move his finger and came back to life without any damage to his body.

Danie Pienaar also a survivor of the kiss of death described how minutes within getting bitten he could taste metal in his mouth while his fingers and lips felt a tingling sensation. Soon enough it “felt like all the hair on my body stood up.” He too became paralyzed and just like Jack, he could hear, touch and see everything but could not move. Danie had hear about Jack’s story and before he became paralyzed, he told the nurses not to turn off the machines. Just like Jack, Danie’s body fought the toxins and a few days later he went back to his regular life.

You could survive a Mamba bite if you are put on an artificial respirator and a heart and lung machine which will do the breathing for you.”

The black mamba occurs across a wide and occasionally fragmented range of sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the black mamba's range has been observed as: north eastDemocratic Republic of the Congo, south westernSudan to Ethiopia, Eritrea,Somalia, Kenya, eastern Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, southwards toMozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana toKwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, andNamibia; then north easterly through Angolato south eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[14][19] The black mamba's distribution contains gaps within the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria and Mali.

Black mambas are actually brown in color. They get their name from the blue-black of the inside of their mouths, which they display when threatened.
Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive. They have been blamed for numerous human deaths, and African myths exaggerate their capabilities to legendary proportions. For these reasons, the black mamba is widely considered the world’s deadliest snake.

Black mambas live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa. They are Africa’s longest venomous snake, reaching up to 14 feet (4.5 meters) in length, although 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) is more the average. They are also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour (20 kilometers per hour).
They get their name not from their skin color, which tends to be olive to gray, but rather from the blue-black color of the inside of their mouth, which they display when threatened.
Black mambas are shy and will almost always seek to escape when confronted. However, when cornered, these snakes will raise their heads, sometimes with a third of their body off the ground, spread their cobra-like neck-flap, open their black mouths, and hiss. If an attacker persists, the mamba will strike not once, but repeatedly, injecting large amounts of potent neuro- and cardiotoxin with each strike.

Before the advent of black mamba antivenin, a bite from this fearsome serpent was 100 percent fatal, usually within about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, antivenin is still not widely available in the rural parts of the mamba’s range, and mamba-related deaths remain frequent.

The black mamba has no special conservation status. However, encroachment on its territory is not only putting pressure on the species but contributes to more potentially dangerous human contact with these snakes.

Source: National Geographic.


In captivity, King Cobra can certainly eats Black Mamba (never in the wild) due to the fact that King Cobra feeds almost exclusively on other snakes. While Black Mamba is more toxic. Its toxin will not work on King Cobra. These snakes have neurotoxin (toxin attacks nerve system). The venom works by binding to a receptor of a muscle cell of a prey. These snakes are immune to their venom and other elapids with same venom because their DNA produce different structure that prevent their venom from recognize and bind to their cells. Therefore, the venom does not work.

Rodney Chin
studied at Seton Hall University
10w ago
umm…basically, what the previous posters wrote!

I would only add that male black mambas have a mating system that's unique in snakes; when competing for a female, the males will engage in a sort of wrestling match. They will measure each other up and entwine one another, with the victor holding his competitor forcefully to the ground. Interestingly, neither will bite. Also, there are actually four types of mambas, but the black one is the most infamous of them. Oh, prior to the development of antivenom, black mamba bites resulted in a 100% fatality rate, and it's due to the fast- acting neurotoxin/cardiotoxins which necessarily has to be swift, as their prey are rodents and other small animals whose sharp teeth/claws would otherwise inflict serious harm.

The black mamba is a slim (albeit long) snake that is not very powerful, but what it lacks in bulk more than makes up with its speed and ultra-potent venom. Hence, the colloquial yet accurate description of its head as being “coffin-shaped”.

Melissa Dillard
93w ago
Black mamba is one of the deadliest snakes on the planet. This species can be found in Eastern and Southern parts of Africa. Black mamba can survive in different types of habitat: savannas, swamps, forests, woods and rocky areas.

Black mambas are very long snakes. They can reach 14 feet in the length and 3.5 pounds in weight.

Black mamba has slender body covered in large, smooth scales. Despite their names, black mambas are not black in color. Body coloration depends on their habitat and it can be green, grey or yellow.

Black mambas are named that way because the inner part of their mouth is completely black. Black mamba will display its black mouth when it is facing a danger.

Flattening of the neck and hissing sound are other signs that represent readiness of black mamba to attack.

Black mamba produced neuro- (affects neural system) and cardio-toxin (affects cardiovascular system) that may kill humans in less than 20 minutes.

Black mamba uses venom to hunt different type of birds and small mammals.

Black mamba moves very fast on the ground. It can travel long distances at the speed of up to 12 miles per hour.

Female lays between 10 and 25 eggs in the nest on the ground. High temperature is essential for the incubation of eggs. Young black mambas will hatch after three months. They take care of themselves from the moment of birth.

Black mamba can survive up to 11 years in the wild and up to 12 years in captivity.

David Kirshner
Zoologist, lifelong reptile enthusiast
10w ago
My summary of the responses posted thus far:

Mambas are so deadly even looking at a photograph of one is lethal. Looking at a child’s drawing of one is sub-lethal, but will land you in intensive care for the rest of your life.
Mamba venom is so potent you die two minutes before you are bitten.
A mamba can stand on the very tip of its tail to reach into a second story apartment just to bite you while you’re watching Friends reruns from the comfort of your sofa. Out of spite.
Mambas are so short-tempered that they are offended by little more than a sideways glance, whispering behind their back or even thinking about doing either of these. They are so aggressive that if you offend one (and it’s nearly impossible not to), they’ll not only kill you immediately but then spend the next three weeks chasing down all of your blood relatives across the globe and knocking them off, one by one. After three weeks they get over it and head home.

Mark Lapierre
former Manager
10w ago
one answer I read was good. they are reportedly the fastest snakes. up to 12 mph. trust me, that's cooking! I read an article where a small family was on a “jeep tour” in south Africa. the guide stopped when seeing an obviously dead mamba. the couple's young son, memory @ 4 yrs. old. the little boy was checking out the snakes head. scratched finger on a gang. went almost immediately cardiac arrest, similar neuro related symptoms. in hospital less than 20 minutes. boy was saved, barely. yikes! that's a hot snake. fortunately they run away asap as a rule. if cornered though, very high risk indeed.

Gordon Wentworth Brown
I know a lot about animals and have cared for reptiles.
1w ago
They are highly intelligent and will strike multiple times. Black Mambas are the most feared snake in all of Africa, even though they are not aggressive unless provoked. They hunt rodents so they are often found around human dwellings.

Julius Szanto
BA Criminal Justice & Political Science & Psychology, Stockton University
10w ago
Anil Kumar's that is very thorough. I don't think I could add anything of significance that wouldn't be redundant.

Erik Katz
I've kept since I was a child and did a 6 year internship working with crocs
67w ago
Not only can the venom kill you within a half hour, but the antivenin can also kill you.

First thought they are as black as guarana seed