Green Anaconda

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: NATIVE HABITAT: • Also known as the giant anaconda, common • This species can be found in South America anaconda, and the common water boa, this east of the Andes, in countries including snake is a boa species found in South America. Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, • They are the heaviest and one of the longest Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, the island of Trinidad, known snake species on the planet. and as far south as northern Paraguay. • Their color pattern consists of an olive green • Anacondas live in swamps, marshes, and background overlaid with black blotches along slow-moving streams, mainly in the tropical the length of their body. rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. • The Green Anacondas head is narrow compared to the body, usually with DIET: a distinctive orange-yellow striping • Primarily aquatic, anacondas eat a wide on either side. variety of prey, almost anything they can • Their eyes are set high on the head, allowing manage to overpower, including fish, birds, the snake to see out of the water while a variety of mammals, and other reptiles. swimming without exposing its body. • Large anacondas may consume bigger prey such as tapirs, deer, capybaras, and caimans, SIZE AND LIFESPAN: but such large meals are not regularly consumed. Occasionally, female green • The green anaconda is the world’s heaviest anacondas will feed on the males. and one of the world’s longest snakes, reaching a length of up to 17.1ft long. REPRODUCTION: • More typical mature specimens can range up to 16.4ft, with adult females reaching length of • This species is solitary until the mating season, about 15.1ft, being generally much larger than which occurs during the rainy season, and the males, which average around 9.8ft. can last for several months, usually from April to May. • The typical adult green anaconda can reach weights of 60-150lbs! • Courtship and mating occur almost exclusively in water. • The longest and heaviest verified specimen encountered by Dr. Jesús Antonio Rivas • The anaconda species is ovoviviparous, (who had examined more than a thousand with females giving birth to live young. anacondas) was a female 17.1ft long and • Litters usually consist of 20 to 40 offspring, weighing 215lbs!! although as many as 100 may be produced.

FUN FACTS: • Its scientific name “Eunectes murinus” means “good swimmer” in Latin. • Anacondas can remain submerged for up to ten minutes at a time