Rinkhals: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the rinkhals lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Hemachatus haemachatus
Group	Snakes
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Africa
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Elapidae

Where does the rinkhals live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the rinkhals in 1 country or territory across Africa.

South Africa

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the rinkhals endangered?

The rinkhals’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the rinkhals?

The rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Elapidae, genus Hemachatus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the rinkhals

The rinkhals (; Hemachatus haemachatus), also known as the ringhals or ring-necked spitting cobra, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is 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. While rinkhals bear a great resemblance to true cobras, they also possess some remarkable differences from these, resulting in their placement outside the genus Naja.

In 2023, the Zimbabwe population was described as a new species, H. nyangensis.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Rinkhals (revision 1355505451), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q169936 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).