Size: Length; 125-150cm (the longest ever recorded was 205cm). Weight; 8.5-10kg.

Habitat and Distribution: Rainforest, woodlands and some savannah in sub-Saharan western Africa.

Age: 11 years.

Groups and Breeding: Breeding males will wrestle for rights to mate with a female. This entails the snakes raising their heads up from the ground and entwining their necks. The winner is the male that succeeds in pushing his opponent’s head to the floor and raising his by 20-30 cm from the ground. Females give birth to up to 40 live young after around a year’s gestation.

Diet: These snakes feed on a variety of birds and mammals, such as doves, many different species of rodents, monkeys, mongooses and even small royal antelope. They feed mostly at night and although they are known actively to hunt, a lot of their food is acquired through ambushing prey. They are extremely venomous.

• This snake has the longest fangs, at up to 55mm long, and highest venom yield of any snake. A single snake can produce up to 5-10 mls of venom in a single bite, which is enough to kill a human up to 50 times over!
• Although this is an extremely venomous snake, it is actually quite docile and rarely attacks if not hunting. For humans a bite causes intense pain, swelling, shock and blistering, leading to loss of consciousness, heart damage and blood becoming incoagulable.
• The Gaboon Viper’s eyes are large and moveable and enable the snake to look forwards and backwards at the same time.
• A Gaboon Viper’s strike can be so powerful that it actually somersaults tail over head!