World’s longest habu snake

World's longest habu snake

The world’s longest habu at 2.42 meters, found in the village of Onna, on display at the Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment in the city of Nanjo on October 31.


November 1, 2011 Ryukyu Shimpo

On October 31, the Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Health and Environment in the city of Nanjo put the world’s longest habu on display to the public. It is 2.42 meters long and weighs around 2.9 kilograms.
The previous record was 2.41 meters for a specimen found in September 1992 on Amami-Oshima Island (Kagoshima Prefecture) north of Okinawa.
Okinawa Prefecture’s longest habu previously recorded was 2.25 meters in length, and was found in Itoman City in November 2005.
The Institute intends to stuff the venomous indigenous snake so it can be put on permanent display.

This habu was spotted on a road in the village of Onna, before being captured and killed by local residents, on October 12.
The average length of habu snakes is 1.3 meters, but Koki Terada, a researcher at the Institute said, “A habitat rich in sources of food is likely to have contributed to this snake having grown to such a length.”
In Okinawa, many people are bitten by habu every year during the period from September to November, and Terada issued a warning to the public, saying, “Habu live in areas populated by humans and are nocturnal, so people really do need to take care.”

(English Translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

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