Black Mamba
The black mamba is Africa's longest venomous snake, with adults commonly reaching between 2 and 3 meters and some individuals exceeding 4 meters. Despite its name, the body is olive, gray or khaki in color. The name comes from the jet black interior of the mouth, which the snake displays wide open as a warning when it feels cornered. It is also among the fastest snakes on Earth, capable of short bursts of up to about 16 km/h across open ground. Found across sub-Saharan Africa, it favors savannas, rocky hillsides and open woodland. It hunts by day, targeting birds, rodents and other small mammals, and immobilizes prey rapidly with a highly potent neurotoxic venom. Without treatment, a bite can cause progressive paralysis and respiratory failure within hours. Modern antivenom has greatly improved survival rates, though access remains limited in some parts of its range.
What is a black mamba?
The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a large, fast and highly venomous snake found across much of sub-Saharan Africa. It belongs to the Elapidae, the same family as cobras, kraits and coral snakes, and is one of four mamba species. The other three are the eastern green mamba, the western green mamba and Jameson's mamba, all of them slimmer, greener and much more tied to trees. Genetic studies show that the black mamba's closest relative is the eastern green mamba, even though the two look nothing alike. The word mamba comes from the Zulu imamba, and the scientific name means "tree asp with many scales". The species was described in 1864 by the zoologist Albert Günther, from a specimen collected by John Kirk during David Livingstone's second expedition to the Zambezi; that specimen is still kept at the Natural History Museum in London. Today the black mamba is the longest venomous snake in Africa and one of the most famous snakes in the world, admired for its speed and feared for its bite.
What does a black mamba look like?
Despite its name, the black mamba is not black. Its body ranges from gray to dark brown, and many look olive, khaki or gunmetal, with a paler, cream or yellowish belly. Young snakes are lighter, gray or olive green, and darken as they grow. The name comes from the inside of the mouth, which is dark bluish gray to almost black and which the snake shows by gaping wide when it feels threatened. The head is long and coffin shaped, with a marked brow ridge over medium sized eyes. Most adults measure 2 to 3 meters, and specimens of 4.3 to 4.5 meters have been reported, making it the longest venomous snake in Africa and second in the world only to the king cobra. For all that length it is slender: a study of seven adults found an average weight of about 1 kilogram, from 520 grams to 2.4 kilograms. The tail makes up about a fifth of the body. Hatchlings are already 40 to 60 centimeters long and can reach about 2 meters in their first year.
Where do black mambas live?
Black mambas are found across a wide arc of sub-Saharan Africa. The IUCN lists them in 27 countries, from Senegal, Guinea and Sierra Leone in the west, through the savannas of Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, to South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia in the northeast, and south through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to Eswatini and South Africa. West African populations are the least known, and some records there have never been confirmed. The species avoids true deserts and the dense interior of the Congo Basin rainforest. It prefers moderately dry, open country: savanna, open woodland, bushveld, scrub and rocky hillsides, though it also uses moist savanna and lowland forest in some regions. It usually lives below 1,000 meters, but has been recorded at 1,800 meters in Kenya and 1,650 meters in Zambia. Each mamba keeps a permanent home, such as an old termite mound, an abandoned burrow, a rock crevice or a hollow tree, and returns to it day after day.
How fast is a black mamba?
The black mamba is often called the fastest snake in Africa, and it is certainly one of the fastest snakes on Earth. Over short distances on suitable ground it can move at up to about 16 kilometers per hour (10 miles per hour). That is roughly the pace of a brisk human jog, so the old stories of mambas overtaking galloping horses or racing alongside cars are pure legend. Its speed is real but brief: a mamba cannot keep it up for long, and it uses it for two things, catching fast prey such as birds and rodents and, above all, escaping. When disturbed, a black mamba almost always heads for the nearest cover or its burrow. The myth that it chases people comes from those escape runs: if a person happens to be standing between the snake and its refuge, the mamba may come straight toward them. Most bites happen when someone corners the snake, steps on it or tries to kill or catch it.
What does a black mamba eat?
The black mamba is a carnivore that prefers warm blooded prey. Its menu includes birds, especially fledglings taken from nests, rodents such as rats and mice, squirrels, hyraxes and other small mammals, and it also eats other snakes. Large mambas can tackle bigger animals, including rock hyraxes and, occasionally, very small antelope. It hunts by day from a permanent lair, moving through its home area in search of prey and sometimes climbing into shrubs and trees after birds. When it finds a target it strikes quickly, often more than once, and then lets go, waiting at a safe distance while the venom works. Once the animal stops moving, the mamba follows it and swallows it whole, head first. This bite and release method protects the snake from being injured by struggling prey. Digestion is fast for a snake, taking about 8 to 10 hours, so a mamba can feed again soon. By eating rats and mice around farms and villages, it helps control rodents that damage crops and spread disease.
Black mamba venom: how fast can it kill?
Black mamba venom is mainly neurotoxic. Its two main groups of toxins are dendrotoxins, which overstimulate nerves, and three finger toxins, which include powerful alpha neurotoxins that block the signal from nerves to muscles, along with cardiotoxins, fasciculins and mambalgins, painkilling proteins now studied by medical researchers. An average bite delivers about 100 to 120 milligrams of venom, and up to 400 milligrams has been recorded, while the dose that could kill an adult person is usually estimated at only 10 to 15 milligrams. Symptoms often begin within 10 minutes, starting with a metallic taste, drooping eyelids and tingling, and a victim can collapse within 45 minutes. Without treatment, death usually comes in 7 to 15 hours from respiratory failure, not in the few minutes of popular legend. Antivenom changed the picture: in South Africa, 15 of 35 people with serious bites died before 1962, but only 5 of 38 once specific antivenom was used. Treatment relies on a polyvalent antivenom made in South Africa, plus a pressure bandage, keeping the person still and getting them to a hospital fast.
Behavior and reproduction
The black mamba is a solitary, mainly ground dwelling snake that is active by day and also climbs well. In South Africa it typically basks in the morning, between about 7 and 10, and again in the afternoon, between about 2 and 4, often on the same spot near its lair. It is shy and nervous, and its first reaction to people is to slip away into brush or a hole. When it cannot escape, it puts on a famous threat display: it raises the front of its body, spreads a narrow hood, opens its inky black mouth and hisses. If the threat keeps coming, it may strike several times in quick succession. The breeding season in southern Africa runs from about September to February. Males follow the scent trails of females and fight rivals in ritual combat, twisting their bodies together and trying to push each other's heads to the ground, without biting. Females lay 6 to 17 eggs in a warm, sheltered place such as a termite mound or a burrow, and then leave them. The hatchlings are fully independent and venomous from the start. Black mambas have been recorded living up to 11 years, possibly longer.
Is the black mamba endangered?
No. The black mamba is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment from 2021, because it has a very wide range and there is no evidence of a decline in its overall numbers. That does not mean it is safe everywhere. Farms, towns and roads keep expanding into the savannas and woodlands where it lives, and fear of the species means that many mambas are killed on sight, even when they pose no immediate danger. Snakes that wander into houses, gardens and schools are often beaten to death rather than removed, although snake rescuers in countries such as South Africa and Kenya now relocate many of them. The black mamba also has natural predators. Birds of prey are the main ones: brown snake eagles have been seen killing mambas up to 2.7 meters long, and tawny and martial eagles take them too. Mongooses and honey badgers, which resist the venom, also hunt them, and Nile crocodiles have been found with mambas in their stomachs. Better access to antivenom and education about how to behave around snakes help both people and mambas.
Where it is found
The Black Mamba can be found in places such as:
