The Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), established in 2005 by herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, is one of the few permanent rainforest research stations in India and the most important centre for king cobra research anywhere in the world. The station tracks and studies king cobras using radio telemetry, has documented over 71 species of snakes in the surrounding forest, and works on broader rainforest ecology in the Western Ghats.
The station offers limited visitor accommodation in two cottages for those serious about the rainforest and its reptiles. Staff take interested visitors on night walks and to known cobra haunts — not a guaranteed sighting, but the knowledge and enthusiasm of the researchers make the experience worthwhile regardless. Arrange visits well in advance through the station's website, and arrive expecting proper jungle: this is not a zoo.