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Setshwantsho sa khathune sa Mount Kenya bush viper
No. 0359 ho 1 402

Mount Kenya bush viper

Atheris desaixi
Ka lebitso: The scientific name Atheris desaixi honours Frank DeSaix, an American Peace Corps volunteer who collected the first specimen.1
E hloka ngakaHa e atise ho bolaya, empa ho longwa ho hloka ngaka.
Di-viper le di-adder Ho lomaE ja: Nama
Kotsi ho batho: E tebilengHo longwa ho hloka ngaka. Lefu le etsahala ka seoelo haholo.

The Mount Kenya bush viper is a venomous snake with a striking black and yellow pattern. It lives only in Kenya, in two small, separate areas of forest. Its bite can cause serious swelling and bleeding problems, so it is important to know it.1

E phela
Kenya only: forests near Chuka on south-eastern Mount Kenya, and near Igembe in the northern Nyambeni range1
Afrika
Lapeng
It lives in dense rain forest at about 1,600 metres above sea level. Its records come from clearings and pathways in thick foliage, about 2 metres above the ground. The air there is very humid.1
Bolelele
40 cm ho isa ho 70 cm (1,3 ft ho isa ho 2,3 ft)1
Lebelo le phahameng
e ka bang 3,3 km/h (2,1 mph)
Naheng, kakanyo feela
E ja eng?
It is an opportunist and preys on amphibians, rodents and small birds.1
Ka nnete!Foto ya Mount Kenya bush viper
Mount Kenya bush viper. Foto: United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Ho e tseba jwang

  • Ground colour is greenish-black to charcoal-black, with each scale tipped in yellow or yellowish-green, giving a speckled look.1
  • Some scales form a series of loops along the sides, which may join into zigzag patterns towards the back.1
  • The underside is yellow near the front, fading to purplish-black towards the rear and under the tail.1
  • Young snakes are mainly yellow with a white-tipped tail. They darken as they grow and reach adult colours at about 30 cm.1
  • Adults are usually 40 to 60 cm long, including the tail.1

Matla a chefo

Ho loma

Chefo e tswa ka meno a yona a chefo (fangs) kapa ka meno a mang ha e loma.

Chefo ya yona (eo e e kenyang ka ho loma kapa ho hlaba) e etsang?

Its venom contains powerful anticoagulants, which are substances that stop blood from clotting properly. A bite causes significant swelling and pain. Poor clotting may be severe enough to need blood transfusions.1

E kotsi hakae ho batho?

Kotsi ho batho: E tebilengHo longwa ho hloka ngaka. Lefu le etsahala ka seoelo haholo.

In the one recorded bite, a Kenyan collector was bitten on a finger by an adult snake. The bite caused significant swelling and pain, and he made a full recovery. The snakes are relatively large for their genus, so a bite should be taken seriously.1

E etsang ha e tshohile?

When captured, it strikes readily and struggles vigorously. It may also give a threat display, rubbing its coils and keeled scales together to make a loud hiss.1

Haeba e loma

  • Because the venom can stop blood clotting, any bite should be treated as serious and needs urgent medical care. In the one recorded bite, a tourniquet was applied and an unknown antivenin was given, but the antivenin probably made no difference.1
  • Boloka motho a sa sisinyehe ebile a kgutsitse, boloka setho se lomilweng se lekana le bophahamo ba pelo, tlosa mesale le dintho tse tiileng, mme o mo ise sepetlele kapele.

Kamehla letsetsa nomoro ya tshohanyetso pele (112, 000, 911). Ena ke tataiso e akaretsang ya thuso ya pele, hase keletso ya bongaka. Metheo ya thuso ya pele

Dula o bolokehile

  • O se ke wa ama, wa tshwara kapa wa tena phoofolo ya naheng, leha e le e nyenyane, le leha e shebahala e robetse kapa e shwele.
  • E fe sebaka. Ha o kopana le yona, dula o kgutsitse, kgutlela morao butle mme o e tlohele e tsamaye ka tsela ya yona.
  • Haeba e nngwe e o loma: dula o kgutsitse, o se ke wa sisinyeha, letsetsa nomoro ya tshohanyetso (112, 000, 911) kapa o ye sepetlele kapele. Hopola hore e ne e shebahala jwang, foto e a thusa.

Ha e o batle. E sebedisa chefo ya yona ho tshwara dijo kapa ho itshireletsa, mme e kgetha ho ipata. Ho eketsehileng ka ho dula o bolokehile

E kgolo hakae?

E telele hakae?

Mount Kenya bush viper bolelele ba e ka bang 70 cm (2,3 ft)Katse ya lapeng e ka bang 50 cm (1,6 ft)Ntja e ka bang 1 m (3,3 ft)
e telele jwaloka dibanana tse 4 tse latellanange ka matha metara e 100 ka metsotswana e 110 (motho ya potlakang ka ho fetisisa o hloka 9,6)

Mount Kenya bush viper e kgolo hakae ha e bapiswa le WENA?

Ke dipalo feela ka hara sebatli sa hao. Ha ho letho le bolokwang kapa le romelwang kae kapa kae.

E potlaka hakae?

ho molemo ho tseba

Dintlha

1

Its coloration gives it excellent camouflage in the forest, so it is very hard to spot.1

2

Its speckled, looped pattern changes from juvenile yellow to adult black and yellow as it grows.1

3

It is arboreal, which means it lives in trees and bushes, moving slowly and deliberately among the branches.1

4

Captive snakes soon calm down, and their threat display disappears.1

Bakeng sa ditsebi tsa chefo

Lebitso la saense
Atheris desaixi
Sehlopha
Di-viper le di-adder
Lelapa
Viperidae2
Tatelano
Squamata
Dikontinente
Afrika
Masea
It gives birth to live young. One recorded female gave birth to 13 offspring in August, each measuring 17 to 21 cm.1
Boemo ba yona naheng
Endangered on the IUCN Red List (as of 2019). Listed in Appendix II of CITES, so international trade is regulated by permit.1
Kotsi ho batho
3 / 5: E tebileng3

Moo dintlha di tswang teng

  1. Atheris desaixi (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0))
  2. Atheris desaixi (iNaturalist): mabitso le tlhophiso.
  3. Venom Wiki: boemo ba kotsi, boholo bo tlwaelehileng le kakanyo ya lebelo ke tsa rona. Bona kamoo re di balang ka teng: Kamoo re lekanyang kotsi ka teng.

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Tse ding tsa sehlopha se le seng: Di-viper le di-adder

E boetse e phela: Afrika

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