Bungarus niger is medium in length, slender-bodied, and triangular in cross-section, with a short, pointed tail.

Bungarus niger is found in Northeast and North India (Assam, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand), Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.

[4] The species was described by Frank Wall from a specimen obtained from near Tindharia near Darjeeling.

It preys mostly on snakes and small mammals and occasionally lizards, frogs, and fish.

[2] The venom of B. niger consists of both presynaptic and postsynaptic neurotoxins, and may also contain myotoxins.