Western green mamba
Dendroaspis viridis (Hallowell, 1844)
The western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis) is a snake in the family Elapidae, part of the order Squamata within the class Reptilia. It was named by Hallowell in 1844, written as (Hallowell, 1844), and belongs to the genus Dendroaspis.
Quick facts about the western green mamba
The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category. Its lifespan is given as 12.5 years, with values reported up to 18.7 years.
- Weight
- up to 1.87 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 2.39 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 12.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18.7 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the western green mamba
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the western green mamba live?
Not recorded
What is the western green mamba?
The western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis) is a long, thin, and highly venomous snake species of the mamba genus, Dendroaspis. This species was first described in 1844 by American herpetologist Edward Hallowell. The western green mamba is a fairly large and predominantly arboreal species, capable of navigating through trees swiftly and gracefully. It will also descend to ground level to pursue prey such as rodents and other small mammals.
The western green mamba is a shy and agile snake that lives mainly in the coastal tropical rainforest, thicket, and woodland regions of western Africa. Its venom is a highly potent mixture of rapid-acting presynaptic and postsynaptic neurotoxins (dendrotoxins), cardiotoxins and fasciculins. Some consider this species not to be a particularly aggressive snake, but others have suggested that they are extremely nervous and are prone to attack aggressively when cornered. Conflict with humans is low compared to some other species found in the region. Bites to people by this species are quite uncommon. Their mortality rate, however, is high; many of the recorded bites have been fatal. Rapid progression of severe, life-threatening symptoms are hallmarks of mamba bites. Bites with envenomation can be rapidly fatal.
From the Wikipedia article “Western green mamba” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_green_mamba&oldid=1359112018), 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 western green mamba endangered?
The western green mamba is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- 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 Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the western green mamba classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyElapidae
- genusDendroaspis
- SpeciesDendroaspis viridis (Hallowell, 1844)
Synonyms Dendroaspis viridis hallowelli, Leptophis viridis
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- mamba západoafrickáCzech
- Vestlig grøn mambaDanish
- Grüne MambaGerman
- Mamba verde africanaSpanish
- LännenvihermambaFinnish
- Mamba vert de l'OuestFrench
- nyugati zöld mambaHungarian
- Mamba verde occidentaleItalian
- ニシグリーンマンバJapanese
- Vestlig Grønn MambaNorwegian Bokmål
- Groene mambaDutch
- Mamba-verde-ocidentalPortuguese
- Зелёная мамбаRussian
- งูแมมบาเขียวThai
- งูกรีนแมมบ้าตะวันตกThai
- 西部綠曼巴蛇Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the western green mamba
Other species in the same genus Dendroaspis.
Black mamba
Dendroaspis polylepis
Eastern green mamba
Dendroaspis angusticeps
Jameson's mamba
Dendroaspis jamesoni
CompareWestern green mamba vs Black mambaWestern green mamba vs Eastern green mambaWestern green mamba vs Jameson's mamba
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 western green mamba?
The western green mamba is a snake, a reptile in the family Elapidae and the suborder Serpentes.
What is the scientific name of the western green mamba?
Its scientific name is Dendroaspis viridis, placing it in the genus Dendroaspis.
Who named the western green mamba and when?
It was named by Hallowell in 1844, written as (Hallowell, 1844).
Is the western green mamba endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List in a global assessment, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the western green mamba live?
Its lifespan is given as 12.5 years, and our sources report values up to 18.7 years.
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). Western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-green-mamba
“Western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-green-mamba.
@misc{western_green_mamba_2026,
title = {Western green mamba (Dendroaspis viridis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-green-mamba},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}