.An analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences plus morphological data (Wüster et al. 2018) has solved the long-standing uncertainty surrounding the Naja melanoleuca ‘species complex’. This is now shown  to contain five distinct species: a more restricted N. melanoleuca; N. guineensis (western Africa); N. savannula (savanna parts of western and central Africa); N. peroescobari (endemic to the island of São Tomé); and N. subfulva (central to northeast and Africa and southwards to Angola in the west and South Africa in the east). Wüster et al. (2018) note that this work did not encompass the full range of morphological variation known in N. subfulva, the most wide-ranging member of the complex, and that additional cryptic diversity may exist within this taxon.

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large overall population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

This species has a wide distribution occurring from the grasslands of western Cameroon northwards to the northern shore of Lake Chad (with a northern range limit at Bol in Chad), east through the Central African Republic and South Sudan (Loveridge 1955), then south through Uganda, western Kenya, eastern DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, western Tanzania to northern Malawi, then west through Zambia and Katanga (DRC) to Angola and the Lower Congo region (Wüster et al. 2018), and north to southwestern Ethiopia (Largen and Rasmussen 1993) and the Lower Juba region of southern Somalia (Lanza 1990). The distribution extends disjunctly east and south to the East African coast from Kenya to northern KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), including inland portions of western Zimbabwe (Wüster et al. 2018). The precise limits to the range of this species in the Congo Basin need to be determined as some subpopulations are difficult to differentiate from the sympatric Naja melanoleuca, although confirmed records of N. subfulva are known from both the evergreen forest zone of the northern Republic of Congo and the northeastern DRC (Wüster et al. 2018). These authors noted that two specimens from Nigeria may be referable to this species, and it may consequently be more widespread in eastern Nigeria, but at present it has not been confirmed from this country. In East Africa, it ranges somewhat widely in central and southern Uganda and western Kenya, and along the northern Albertine Rift, and as a separate subpopulation along the East African coastal plain (and the offshore islands Zanzibar and Mafia), from where it ranges southwards as far as Zimbabwe and eastern South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal) (Branch 1998, Spawls et al. 2018, Marais 2004, Broadley and Blaylock 2013). Isolated records are known elsewhere in East Africa from central Kenya, from the southern shore of Lake Victoria, from the western and southern margins of Lake Tangyanika (Spawls et al. 2018), from Mahenge Scarp Forest and the East Usambara mountains. It can be found from sea level to 2,500 m asl (Spawls et al. 2018).

This is a locally common species, with reasonably stable populations overall.

This species inhabits forests, savanna and grassland habitats, and can also be found in open wetlands and in urban areas (Spawls et al. 2018). It is terrestrial, but climbs well (Spawls et al. 2018). In East Africa it also occurs in coastal thicket (Spawls et al. 2002). It is often found in or near water and may climb into low bushes (Branch 1998). It is a strong swimmer and includes fish in its highly generalist diet; in some areas it can be semi-aquatic (Spawls et al. 2018). Generation length and natural longevity are unknown, but a captive specimen reportedly lived for 28 years (Spawls et al. 2018).

Threatened by habitat transformation throughout its range in South Africa and is often unnecessarily persecuted by people. The species is, however, very tolerant of transformed habitat.

There was an export quota of 300 animals from Tanzania for 2014. Numbers are found in trade unlikely to approach this figure: Jensen et al. (2017, 2019) found only 36 live animals of the Naja melanoleuca complex (which then included this species) advertised for export to North America and Europe between 2013 and 2017, across five range states.

This species has bee recorded from many protected areas. No immediate direct conservation measures are required.