Boiga melanota
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Boiga melanota, the western mangrove cat snake, is one of the biggest cat snake species in Asia. It is found in Thailand, West Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia (Sumatra). It is shiny bluish black in colour, marked with 40-50 yellow stripes. The mouth and throat area are yellow, whereas the ventral part of the body is yellowish black. The eyes are greyish in colour. It is categorised as a mildly venomous snake.
An adult mangrove snake can reach a length of 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in). It is active at night (nocturnal) and hunts for birds, rats and birds eggs as its main diet. Its large head and mouth enables it to swallows its prey easily.
Recently reclassed from within the Dendrophila family, they share some physical traits such as similar colouring and being rear-fanged. Species Boiga melanota at The Reptile Database Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Chester Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | National Zoological Garden of South Africa | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Night Safari | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 6 | National Zoo of Malaysia | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 7 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 8 | John Ball Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | River Wonders | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 10 | Farm in the City | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 11 | Siam Serpentarium | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 12 | Entopia | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 13 | Snake Farm of Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 14 | Blue Planet Aquarium | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 15 | Terrariet | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 16 | Dolphins Bay Phuket | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Mangrove Cat Snake sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 22nd most-seen of the 64 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Mangrove Cat Snake in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Mangrove Cat Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Singapore, in our data
Singapore is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Western Mangrove Cat Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Mangrove Cat Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Singapore (128 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
