Species group · Reptiles
Anacondas
WAnimals has 2 species of anaconda, all in the family Boidae.
- 2 species
- 1 family
- 13 countries
- 24 parks
- Weight
- 25 kg – 150 kg
- Length
- 2.5 m – 6 m
- Lifespan
- 20 – 30 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.
All 2 species of anacondas on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 13 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
It is the heaviest snake on the planet: although the reticulated python is longer, a large anaconda can weigh three times as much, and its body reaches the girth of a human torso.
From Green Anaconda
Its dimorphism is among the most extreme of any vertebrate: females can weigh five times as much as males, and during breeding as many as a dozen males form a writhing ball around a single female for weeks.
From Green Anaconda
It is virtually aquatic: its weight makes it clumsy on land, but in the water it moves quickly and can stay submerged for long spells with only its eyes and nostrils showing.
From Green Anaconda
It forms breeding aggregations: several much smaller males coil simultaneously around a single female, forming a ball that may stay in the water for weeks.
From Yellow Anaconda
It is viviparous: it lays no eggs, and the young develop inside the mother and are born independent, measuring more than half a metre.
From Yellow Anaconda
Females have been documented reabsorbing part of their own body during gestation, losing as much as half their mass to nourish the young.
From Yellow Anaconda