The anaconda lives in South America's tropical rainforests and rivers, growing up to 30 feet long and weighing over 550 pounds. It hunts large prey like deer, pigs, and caimans by submerging itself and ambushing its victims. Females give birth to live young that are able to swim and hunt on their own immediately. Though slow on land, anacondas are stealthy in the water and can go long periods without eating after a large meal.

1. THE AMZING GREEN ANACONDA!!! CAYLAH MOSES, BROOKE TALLARD, SHAHBAZ KHATTAK

2. HOME SWEET HOME… The anaconda is a member of the boa family. It lives in South America in the Orinoco rivers. Some also live in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams, but they mainly in the tropical rain forest of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

3. WEIGHT.... The anaconda weights more than 550 pounds ( 227 kilograms).

4. HOW LONG???…. The green anaconda measures more than 29 to 30 inches (6 to 9 meters) in diameter.

5. DINNER TIME…. When the anaconda hunts their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their heads so that they can catch their prey by being completely submereged. Anacondas eat wild pigs, deer, birds, turtles, capybara, caimans, and jaguars. After a big meal like that the anaconda can go weeks or even months without food. The predator of the snake is jaguars or caimans but they rarely come around because of the snake’s size.

6. BABIES…. Females retain their eggs and give birth to two or three dozen live young. Their babies are about 2 feet (0.6 meters ) long. When born they are able to swim and hunt immediately. Their lifespan in the wild is ten years.

7. LOCATION.... In the Shedd Aquarium they are found in the Amazon Ring.

8. DESCRIPTION…. Olive green in color with black blotches that run through the length of its body. Their head is narrower than the rest of its body and has a distinctive orange-yellow striping on either side.

9. MY 5 FACTS…. They are nonvenomous snakes. It’s cousin is the reticulated python. Other South America species are all smaller than the anaconda and some are the yellow dark-spotted, and Bolivian varieties. They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water. The group name of the anaconda is bed or knot.