Image: Science Magazine via YouTube
Locals in Brazil recently discovered an extremely rare boa that hasn’t been seen alive for more than half a century.
The Cropan’s boa (scientific name: Corallus cropanii) is confined to an area of about 115 square miles near Brazil’s devastated Atlantic Forest, according to the IUCN, which lists the snake on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Since the first live specimen was found in 1953, scientists have only been able to study about five dead individuals until now, National Geographic reports. As a result, not much is known about the Cropan’s boa beyond its physical characteristics and the fact that they may spend most of their time in trees like some of their relatives.
Image: Science Magazine via YouTube
Before farmers in the Sao Paolo’s Ribeira Valley in Sao Paolo came across the 5.5-foot-long female specimen earlier this year, a group of researchers had launched an all-out effort to find the Cropan’s boa. Previously, residents in the nearby communities would kill the snakes they encountered, but the herpetologists handed out fliers, taught residents how to catch the snake and asked them to report any sightings.
The plan worked.
Image: Science Magazine via YouTube
The scientists have tagged the snake with a radio tracker and released it back into the wild, in hopes that we’ll be able to learn more about the snake’s behavior.
See more of the snake in the video below:
