Green Anaconda

Scientific Classification

KINGDOM: Animalia

PHYLUM: Chordata

CLASS: Reptilia

ORDER: Squamata

FAMILY: Boidae

GENUS: Eunectes

SPECIES: E. murinu

Conservation Status

The green anaconda is the world’s heaviest snake! National Geographic cites green anacondas as weighing up to 550 pounds! However, the average usually lies within the 150-300-pound range with a typical length of 15-25 feet.

The color pattern of these snakes is a green background with dark blotches along the length of the body. Their scales will become lighter towards the stomach. Their skin is loose and soft allowing the green anaconda’s body to withstand long periods in water.

Green anacondas have their eyes and nasal openings high on their head so they can see while their body is submerged underwater.

Green anacondas live in marshes, swamps, and slow-moving streams. They prefer wet environments as they move clumsily on land, while stealthily smooth in the water. In fact, they spend more time in water than any other boa. Green anacondas can be found in a many countries between South America down to northern Paraguay.

Green anacondas feed on anything they can overpower. This can include critters as large as deer or jaguars, but they will rarely consume such large animals regularly. Even though green anacondas can move at high speeds in water, they employ a sit-and-wait approach. They lie hidden underwater until prey passes by, which is when the anaconda strikes. The green anaconda will then coil around it and suffocate its prey.

Mating season for green anacondas occurs during the rainy season where normally solitary males will follow the females’ pheromones to her. Females will remain pregnant for a little over six months, after which she will give birth to a litter of between 20-40 live snakelets. Baby green anacondas are born measuring around two feet long. Due to their small size, survival is slim so these babies mature quickly.

Green anacondas will flick their tongue out similar to other snakes to sense the area around them. This is made possible using the Jacobson’s organ found on the roof of the snake’s mouth. Their flicking tongue brings odors into the mouth, which will be delivered to the Jacobson’s organ after the odors have mixed with the oral fluids.