Giant anaconda

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The green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, is the largest anaconda species. Females are bigger than their male counterparts.

Reports of giant anacondas date back as far as the discovery of South America when sightings of anacondas upwards of 50 meters (150 feet) began to circulate amongst colonists and the topic has been a subject of debate ever since among cryptozoologists and zoologists.

Anacondas normally grow to size of 6 metres (20 ft),^[1][2] and 250 kilograms (40 stone) in weight,^[3] Although some python species can grow longer in length,^[3] the anaconda, particularly the Green Anaconda, is the heaviest and largest in terms of diameter of all snakes, and is often considered the biggest extant snake in the world.^[1][3] It is not uncommon for a fully grown anaconda to attack and kill a jaguar or caiman. The lengthiest reputably-measured and confirmed anacondas are 25 feet (7.5 meters), and scientists generally regard allegations of vast specimens of 30 or 50 meters as highly dubious.^[4]

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 In fiction 3 In documentaries 4 See also 5 Footnotes

History

The first recorded sightings of giant anacondas were from the time of the discovery of South America, when early European explorers entered the dense jungles there and claimed to have seen giant snakes measuring up to 18 metres (59 ft) long.^[5] Natives also reported seeing anacondas upwards of 10.5 metres (34 ft)^[5] to 18 metres (59 ft).^[1] It is unquestionable that anacondas above 23 feet( 7 meters) in length are rare; the Wildlife Conservation Society has, since the early 20th century, offered a large cash reward (currently worth US$50,000) for live delivery of any snake of 9 metres (30 ft) or more in length, but the prize has never been claimed despite the numerous sightings of giant anacondas. In a survey of 780 wild anacondas in Venezuela, the largest captured was 5 metres (16 ft) long, far short of the length required.^[6]

A specimen measured in 1944 exceeded this size when a petroleum expedition in Colombia claimed to have measured an anaconda which was 11.4 metres (37 ft) in length, but its claim has never been proven.^[7] Scientist Vincent Roth also claimed to have shot and killed a 10.3 metres (34 ft) specimen, but like most other claims it lacks sound evidence. Another claim of an extraordinarily large anaconda was made by adventurer Percy Fawcett. During his 1906 expedition, Fawcett wrote that he had shot an anaconda that measured some 19 metres (62 ft) from nose to tail.^[8] Once published, Fawcett’s account was widely ridiculed. Decades later, Belgian cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans came to Fawcett's defense, arguing that Fawcett's writing was generally honest and reliable.^[9]

Historian Mike Dash writes of claims of still larger anacondas, alleged to be as long as 45 metres (150 ft),^[10] with some of the sightings supported with photos (although those photos lack scale). Dash notes that if reports of a 18 metres (59 ft) anaconda strains credulity, then a 120 ft long specimen is generally regarded as an outright impossibility.^[10]

In fiction

Perhaps the most well-known and defining portrayal of giant anaconda in popular fiction is the 1997 film Anaconda, which featured a giant anaconda hunting and killing several crew members from National Geographic, and its sequel Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. Another two sequels, Anaconda 3: Offspring and Anacondas: Trail of Blood, were produced as made-for-television movies in 2008.^[11]

In documentaries

It was featured in an episode of Lost Tapes called "Megaconda". This term was continually used in the official website