Species Fact Profile: Dumeril's Boa (Acrantophis dumerili)

Dumeril's Boa

Acrantophis dumerili (Jan & Sordelli, 1860)

Range: Southern and Western Madagascar

Habitat: Semi-Arid Forest, Savannah

Diet: Birds, Lizards, Frogs, Small Mammals (up to the size of young lemurs)

Social Grouping: Solitary

Reproduction: Breeding takes place March through May.  Male uses his small vestigial spurs to stimulate the female.  Gestation period 6-8 months.  Female gives live birth of up to 30 young, each 30-45 centimeters long.  Sexually mature at 3-5 years old

Lifespan: 20-30 Years

Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern, CITES Appendix I

• Grow up to 2.6 meters (usually 2 meters) in length, with females being larger than males.  Males also differ from females in having longer, thinner tails
• Brown-gray background coloration covered with dark irregular patches for camouflage
• Madagascar is home to two other boa species.  They are unrelated to the pythons of mainland Africa and are instead related to the boas of the Americas
• Adults may be active by day or by night, while juveniles are primarily nocturnal.  During the winter they may undergo a brief period of inactivity
• In decline due to habitat loss, especially deforestation for charcoal production.  In some areas they are feared and hunted and killed on sight (in part because they will eat domestic poultry, in part for leather or for meat).  Some illegal collection for the pet trade
• In some parts of their range, they were traditionally protected.  The patterns of spots on their skin were thought to resemble faces, leading to the belief that their skins held the souls of departed ancestors
• Named after the French herpetologist Andre Marie Constant Dumerli