They say Australia has the most deadliest animals
I laugh at such statements.
Anglo saxons got injected into pretty nasty environment there, and its only been a cpl hundred years for them living there.
Generally you need 1000+ year timeframes with the "nasties" to develop a real cultural fascination, respect and known contextual "deadliness" to them.
The cobras in India are actually fairly shy and try to avoid humans as far as possible. They strike only when (accidentally or purposely) cornered or feel threatened.
The larger danger for people generally rests with snakes like kraits and vipers which tend to hide in things lot more, and become much more startled and give no warning etc.
In Tamil, we actually call the cobra (especially the smaller "spectacle" one) as "nalla pambu"....which means "Good snake"....as it generally:
- gives plenty of options to avoid it
- clear warning signs given when it is agitated so you can make a break away with no issue
- is huge part in controlling vermin and pests for farms
Snakes (esp by mythical Naga) more generally play a larger role in Indian culture and religion quite unlike anywhere else in world.
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On related note to Australia though, Australia was connected at one point to India and Africa (and Antarctica in the area too, but antarctica went so far south it doesnt have the wildlife diversity due to the cold.
It is no surprise these 3 entities share a lot of the danger-critters (and flora and fauna in general)....though large differences have also arisen especially in Australia....(Africa and India are much closer in their "life tree" - evidenced most notably by the megafauna like Elephant, buffalo and big cat presence)
South India that I know so well, Parts of outback i went to... and the Eastern + South Africa vids I see, I see a lot of similarity in even the reddish soil and rocky outcrops...i.e eastern Gondwanaland today.