Gaboon viper
Bitis gabonica (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
The gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), also called the Gaboon adder, is a snake in the family Viperidae, subfamily Viperinae, and genus Bitis. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 2.381 kg.
Quick facts about the gaboon viper
Its lifespan is given as 15.8 years, with values up to 18 years reported, and it has 156 young per litter or eggs per clutch. The IUCN Red List assesses the gaboon viper globally as Vulnerable (VU), a threatened category.
- Weight
- 2.38 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- 1.05 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 15.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 22 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 15.5 – 27src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.33 – 0.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Live birthsrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the gaboon viper?
Photos of the gaboon viper
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the gaboon viper live?
Not recorded
What is the gaboon viper?
The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), also called the Gaboon adder, is a large and highly venomous species of viper found in the rainforests and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest member of the genus Bitis. Like all other vipers, it is venomous, and it has the longest fangs of any venomous snake – up to 2 inches (5.1 cm) in length – and the highest venom yield of any snake. No subspecies are recognized.
From the Wikipedia article “Gaboon viper” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaboon_viper&oldid=1368756866), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the gaboon viper endangered?
The gaboon viper is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the gaboon viper classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyViperidae
- genusBitis
- SpeciesBitis gabonica (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)
Synonyms Bitis gabonica gabonica, Bitis gabonica gabonica, Cerastes gabonica, Cerastes nasicornis, Echidna gabonica
Other names and names in other languages (19)
- Gaboon adderEnglish
- Gaboon adderEnglish
- GaboenadderAfrikaans
- SkoenlapperadderAfrikaans
- zmije gabunskáCzech
- Østlig GabonhugormDanish
- GabunviperGerman
- Víbora de GabónSpanish
- Vipère du GabonFrench
- gaboni viperaHungarian
- Vipera del GabonItalian
- ガボンアダーJapanese
- GabonviperNorwegian Bokmål
- Żmija gabońskaPolish
- Víbora-do-gabãoPortuguese
- Габонская гадюкаRussian
- งูกาบูนThai
- Gabon engereğiTurkish
- 加彭噝蝰Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the gaboon viper
Other species in the same genus Bitis.
Puff adder
Bitis arietans
Rhinoceros viper
Bitis nasicornis
Dwarf puff adder
Bitis peringueyi
Namaqua puff adder
Bitis schneideri
Horned adder
Bitis caudalis
Berg adder
Bitis atropos
CompareGaboon viper vs Puff adderGaboon viper vs Rhinoceros viperGaboon viper vs Dwarf puff adderGaboon viper vs Namaqua puff adder
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the gaboon viper?
The gaboon viper is a snake, a reptile in the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae.
Is the gaboon viper endangered?
The gaboon viper is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How heavy is a gaboon viper?
An adult Gaboon viper has a representative body mass of 2.381 kg, placing it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).
How long does a gaboon viper live?
The gaboon viper's lifespan is given as 15.8 years, and values up to 18 years have been reported.
How many young does a gaboon viper have?
The gaboon viper has 156 young per litter or eggs per clutch.
Who named the gaboon viper?
The gaboon viper, Bitis gabonica, was named by (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854).
What is another name for the gaboon viper?
The gaboon viper is also called the Gaboon adder.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaboon-viper
“Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaboon-viper.
@misc{gaboon_viper_2026,
title = {Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gaboon-viper},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}