Malabar Pit Viper

The Malabar Pit Viper is a stunning endemic species of the Western Ghats, known for its remarkable color polymorphism — individuals can be green, brown, yellow, or even a beautiful combination of these colors. This arboreal viper is one of the most photographed snakes in India.

As a pit viper, it possesses heat-sensing pit organs between its eyes and nostrils that allow it to detect warm-blooded prey in complete darkness. Its hemotoxic venom causes pain, swelling, and local tissue damage, though fatalities are rare.

This species is primarily arboreal and nocturnal, spending its days coiled on tree branches or in bamboo clumps. It is ovoviviparous, giving birth to 4-11 live young. The Malabar Pit Viper is an important predator of frogs, lizards, and small mammals in the Western Ghats ecosystem.