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#1703 · 🦎 reptiles

Central American Boa

Boa imperator

LCleast concern 🦎 Reptiles 📍 outside Europe
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
  1. 1. © John Sullivan · CC BY-NC 4.0
  2. 2. © D. Valencia · CC BY-NC 4.0
  3. 3. © Karl Kroeker · CC BY-NC 4.0
  4. 4. © Valentina L. · CC BY-NC 4.0
  5. 5. © Ivan Clemente Torres · CC BY-NC 4.0
  6. 6. Chilamate, Heredia, Sarapiquí, Costa Rica:© Mike Cardwell · CC BY-NC 4.0
  7. 7. El Porvenir, Atlántida, Honduras:© Ad Konings · CC BY-NC 4.0
  8. 8. Parque Tomás Garrido Canabal, Villahermosa, Tab., MX:© Alberto G. Nadal · CC BY-NC 4.0
  9. 9. Isla Juan Venado, Leon, Nicaragua:© Jessie · CC BY-NC 4.0
  10. 10. Finch St, New Orleans, LA, US:© will_fisher10 · CC BY-NC 4.0
Central American Boa, photo 1 of 10
1/10 © John Sullivan · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Boa imperator is a large, heavy-bodied, nonvenomous species of snake, of the boa genus, that is commonly kept in captivity. Boa imperator is part of the family Boidae and is found in Mexico, Central America and South America west of the Andes Mountains (primarily Colombia). It is commonly called the northern boa , Colombian boa and common northern boa and is frequently and erroneously referred to as the red-tailed boa or Colombian red-tailed boa ,...

base stats

  • NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
  • worldwide 8,881iNaturalist observations
  • threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

  • No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
  • 8,881 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
  • Scientifically named by François Marie Daudin in 1803 (223 years ago).

fact sheet

English
Central American Boa
scientific name
Boa imperator
class
Reptilia
order
Squamata
family
Boidae
IUCN Red List
LC · least concern
sightings in NL
0
sightings worldwide
8,881
GBIF records in NL
0
weight
—
length
—
lifespan
—
named
1803 by François Marie Daudin

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Boidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 539399, Wikidata Q58741252, GBIF 2464915, Wikipedia (EN). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

stan runge 9114b54 source