Chrysopelea taprobanica
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Chrysopelea taprobanica, the Sri Lankan flying snake or Indian flying snake, is a species of gliding colubrid snake distributed in India and Sri Lanka. It can glide, as with all species of its genus Chrysopelea, by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. The snake is known as "dangara dandaa - දඟරදන්ඩා" in Sinhala, due to its folding postures.
Chrysopelea taprobanica belongs to the genus Chrysopelea, which contains four other described species. Chrysopelea is one of five genera belonging to the vine snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae, of which Chrysopelea is most closely related to Dendrelaphis, as shown in the cladogram below:
The Sri Lankan flying snake is distributed in Sri Lanka and Peninsular India. population in Sri Lanka can be found in dry zone lowlands and parts of the intermediate climatic zones, including Polonnaruwa, Wilpattu National Park, Sigiriya, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Trincomalee, and Monaragala. This species was believed to be endemic to Sri Lanka until researchers recorded a few specimens from Andhra Pradesh (India) and found old museum specimens collected from India that are now assigned to this species. More recently this... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Flying Snake sighting in Minneriya National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 19 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Flying Snake in Minneriya National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May–June and August–November, the lowest months. That is one of Minneriya National Park's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 340 mm in November.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Flying 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 Minneriya National Park, in our data
Minneriya National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Indian Flying Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Indian Flying Snake that you can see in Minneriya National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Green Vine Snake (about 20%), Dhaman (about 20%) and Common Bronzeback Tree Snake (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Flying Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Minneriya National Park (5 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.
