Distributed in almost all the residual forest areas of Madagascar. In eastern rainforests it has a greenish colouration, while in dry deciduous forest of W coast the specimens are brownish
Habits:
It is called tree-boa, and this means that, at least in part, it is arboreal. In reality, especially the large individuals, can be found very frequently on the ground
Remarks:
Although it is a forest species it seems to be more abundant next to the villages, where possibly it takes advantages from the presence of rongers, which contitute their main prey.Its name was until recently Sanzinia madagascariensis. Recent studies by Kluge revealed that all the three Malagasy boas (Sanzinia madagascariensis, Actrantophis madagascariensis, and Acrantophis dumerilii, share common characters with the well known Boa contrictor from central-south America. They have been therefore included in the same genus, Boa. This change led to have two congeneric species with the same specific name, madagascariensis. The formerly known Acrantophis madagscariensis resulted to have priority, thus becoming Boa madagascariensis. The former Sanzinia madagascariensis was then changed in its specific name into Boa manditra. Manditra is the Malagasy name for just this species
Status:
It is included in the Appendix I of CITES, as all the boids. In reality it is one of the most frequently encountered Malagasy snakes
