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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Bill Chambers

Dumeril's Ground Boa

Acrantophis dumerili

*This animal is not on exhibit.

Physical Characteristics

  • These snakes have grey and brown bands with black markings. Their pupils are vertical.
  • Size of average adult
    • length: 4 - 6 feet

Diet

  • Wild: small mammals

Behavior

  • Kills its prey by constriction at ground level
  • Appears to be a nocturnal predator
  • Reproduction
    • mating season: March to May
    • females bear live young around January

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: dry forests
  • Distribution: southwest Madagascar
  • Numbers: no estimates of numbers left in the wild, 203 in SSP (1992)
  • Status: CITES Appendix I
    • habitat destruction: land converted for agriculture or grazing
    • killed out of fear or superstition
    • skins sold in Madagascar and abroad

Conservation Efforts

  • AZA institutions have sent representatives to examine conservation problems for Madagascar's reptiles and amphibians
  • Hope for coordination between SSP and propagation program in Madagascar

Research and Investigation Programs

  • Study comparing the genetic make-up of both captive bred and wild boas
  • Plans for field study of the status of the wild population
  • Autoecological study of the boa

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