Austrelaps superbus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The lowland copperhead or lowlands copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) is a venomous snake species in the family Elapidae, found in southeastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is commonly referred to as the copperhead, but is not closely related to the American copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix. If provoked, the lowland copperhead is a dangerous snake with neurotoxic venom, which can kill an adult human if correct first aid is not applied promptly.
The lowland copperhead is generally 1-1.5 m (3–5 feet) long. Their colour varies a great deal, from a coppery mid-brown to yellowish, reddish, grey or black. The copper head colouring that gave rise to the common name is not always present. Its venom has been measured at 0.5 mg/kg subcutaneous.
It is found in southeastern Australia, including Tasmania. A. superbus has a preference for areas of low vegetation near water bodies where it hunts for frogs, lizards and snakes, including smaller specimens of its own species. It has been found in sandstone ridgetop woodland in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it is becoming rare, due to increasing fires and the spread of urban settlements... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Copperhead sighting in Grampians National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 25 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Copperhead in Grampians National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, May–August and December, the lowest months. That is one of Grampians National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 85 mm in October.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lowlands Copperhead sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Lowlands Copperhead sightings, Grampians National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Wilsons Promontory National Park (Australia, about 40%) and Great Otway National Park (Australia, about 20%).
Same family: Elapidae
The closest relatives of the Lowlands Copperhead that you can see in Grampians National Park (family Elapidae, Elapid Snakes) are Red-bellied Black Snake (about 30%), Eastern Brown Snake (about 20%) and Eastern Tiger Snake (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lowlands Copperhead is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Grampians National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
