 Green
Anaconda
scientific
name
Eunectes
murinus
size
Weight:
550 lbs
Length: 30-35 ft
characteristics
Color:
dark green with alternating black spots • scale pattern on black
and yellow underside unique to each animal
Body: stocky, muscular body • spurs on either side of cloaca •
slow-acting digestive system, will take days or weeks to digest meal
Face: eyes and nostrils on top of large narrow head
Behavior:
nocturnal • semi-aquatic • aggressive • lays at water’s
edge for prey with only snout protruding • will also hunt on land
hanging in tree to grab prey from above
reproduction/life
span
Life span:
10-30 yr
Mate. courtship can last months • mating period Apr. – May
• female may lay down pheromone trail or emit air-born pheromone
to attract male • 2-10 males may wrap in a ball around female during
mating for 2-4 weeks
Breeding season:
Gestation. 6 mo
Birth: bears young live usually 40-60 in litter, although can be up
to 100 • young 27-31 in
diet
Wild: freshwater
turtles, caimans, mammals, birds, fish (any meat it can catch)
habitat/range
Habitat:
prefers sluggish or still waters • tropical rain forest, tropical
deciduous forest, freshwater lakes, freshwater rivers
Range: tropical South America east of Andes primarily in Amazon &
Orinoco basins, Guianas, Trinidad
status
Cites II
other
‘anaconda’
comes from Tamil word ‘anaikolra’meaning ‘elephant killer’ •
early Spanish settlers called it ‘matatoro’or ‘bull killer'
note
largest
snake in world
oregon
zoo exhibit
Amazon Flooded Forest
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