Green Anaconda

The green anaconda is a massive non-venomous snake native to the swamps, marshes and slow-moving rivers of tropical South America, widely regarded as the heaviest snake species in the world, with large females capable of exceeding five metres in length and weighing well over ninety kilograms. It is olive green with dark oval blotches along its body, and it spends much of its time partially submerged in water, where its weight is supported and it can ambush prey more effectively. Green anacondas are constrictors, coiling around prey such as fish, birds, caimans, deer and capybaras and squeezing until the animal suffocates before swallowing it whole. As with many snake species, females are considerably larger than males, and the species remains widespread across much of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, though it is affected by habitat loss in parts of its range.