Green Mamba

The Green Mamba is a highly arboreal elapid found along the coastal forests and woodlands of eastern Africa. Its brilliant green coloration provides excellent camouflage among leaves, making it far less visible than its more infamous relative, the black mamba.

It possesses a potent neurotoxic venom capable of causing serious medical harm, but it is a shy, reclusive species that generally avoids confrontation and prefers to flee rather than engage when encountered.

• Uniform bright green coloration over the entire body, sometimes with a yellowish tinge
• Slender, elongated body well suited to climbing
• Narrow, elongated head with a slight brow ridge, though less pronounced than in the black mamba
• Smooth scales and round pupils
• Long, whip-like tail aiding arboreal locomotion

Its vivid green color and slender arboreal build distinguish it clearly from the grayish-brown, more terrestrial black mamba, despite both belonging to the same genus.

Inhabits coastal forest, thicket, and woodland, favoring dense canopy vegetation where it spends the majority of its life. Its range extends along the eastern coast of Africa from Kenya and Tanzania south through Mozambique to parts of South Africa.

It is strongly associated with evergreen forest patches and coastal bush, rarely venturing far from tree cover.

Primarily diurnal and highly arboreal, moving swiftly through branches and foliage. It is shy and secretive by nature, typically fleeing into dense cover when disturbed rather than confronting a threat.

It preys mainly on birds, eggs, and small mammals, actively hunting through the canopy. It is oviparous, laying clutches of up to around a dozen eggs in tree hollows or similar sheltered sites.