Everyone everywhere agrees the anaconda is one of the biggest snakes around. Then there’s the Green Anaconda, one of the biggest and heaviest snake species on the entire planet. To an adult, a tiny rattlesnake could seem ‘big’ because (1) they’re terrifying to many people and (2) most people run when they hear the rattle and never get a good look at the snake to begin with. To a toddler, a two-foot-long corn snake would be massive.
This is one of the largest snakes ever filmed and the snake’s stomach is so large from the prey inside that all it could do is float and couldn’t escape the area. 
A giant green anaconda snake estimated at 16.5-feet long was filmed in the Brazilian jungle after it got stuck because it was so big from swallowing large prey whole. In New Mexico, Rivas and his students study species of concern such as the northern New Mexico leopard frog and snapping turtles. Since joining the Highlands faculty in 2010, Rivas and fellow biology professor Sarah Corey-Rivas have led their students on several research expeditions to South America to study anacondas and other tropical wildlife. This book was directed at the scientific community and was based on his doctoral dissertation. In 2016, Natural History of the Green Anaconda: With Emphasis on its Reproductive Biology, was published. They believe anacondas are enchanted and must be protected,” Rivas said “Humans are fascinated by large predators, so anacondas have enjoyed a place of mystery with people who inhabit the same area. In Rivas’ 2000 doctoral dissertation on green anacondas, the largest anaconda weighed 220 pounds and the longest measured 18 feet in length. Like all reptiles, anacondas tire quickly,” Rivas said.Īnacondas are nonvenomous snakes that use constriction to kill their prey. When you find an anaconda, you hold it behind its head and restrain it until it tires. You locate them by walking through miles of swamp. “Green anacondas live in swamps in South America and you need to find the animals in their natural habitat to study them. He is also featured in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, the BBC, Animal Planet and the Smithsonian Channel. Rivas founded the ongoing Anaconda Project in 1992, which focuses on research and conservation.įor three years, Rivas was a field and broadcast correspondent for National Geographic wildlife documentaries. He is a Venezuelan-born herpetologist – a scientist who studies reptiles and amphibians. Rivas is known globally for his anaconda research, which spans 28 years. This new book is a rare treasure for anyone interested in the lives of potentially dangerous animals and the scientists who study them,” Burghardt said. “Rivas is a creative and brilliant field biologist. adviser at the University of Tennessee, is a professor in both the Ecology and Evolution Department and Psychology Department. “This fascinating book gives us deep glimpses into how anacondas live in nature.”īurghardt, who was Rivas’ Ph.D. “Jesús Rivas is one of those risk-taking pioneers studying large animals most vulnerable to extinction that are especially valuable in helping us appreciate the lives of charismatic animals before it’s too late,” wrote Gordon Burghardt in the foreword of Rivas’ new book. The 300-page book features numerous photographs, including ones of Rivas involving Highlands University students in his anaconda field research in Venezuela. “The more we know about endangered anacondas and their place in the ecosystem, the better the chance we can conserve them,” Rivas said. I want to share my love of anacondas because people will only protect what they love. “My biggest goal with this book is to convey my experience learning about anacondas and their lives,” Rivas said. His study area is primarily in the Venezuelan Llanos – a vast plain that floods during the wet season from May through October. In June 2020, Oxford University Press will publish Rivas’ book, Anaconda – The Secret Life of the World’s Largest Snake. – New Mexico Highlands University biology professor Jesús Rivas’ book is the first to help nonscience readers explore the life of giant green anaconda snakes in the wild. Highlands University biology professor Jesús Rivas captures a green anaconda during a research expedition in Venezuela in 2017.
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