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Aruba Island rattlesnake (Crotalus unicolor)

Papiamento name: cascabel
IUCN RED LIST: Critically Endangered

The Aruba Island rattlesnake is found only on the island of Aruba, where it is mostly limited to the rocky, dry southern tip of the island. Due to its extremely limited geographic range, the fact that only about 230 animals are left in the wild, and the ever encroaching human habitation into their territory (there is only about 25 square kilometers left undeveloped), the Aruba Island Rattlesnake is among the rarest rattlesnakes in the world and listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. While exporting this snake from the island is illegal, the cascabel has no other legal protection on the island. The Aruba Island rattlesnake is now a part of the Species Survival Plan for captive breeding.

The diet of the Aruba Island rattlesnake consists of rodents, birds and lizards. Males reach sexual maturity in four years; females in five. After a gestation time of four months, females give birth to between five and fifteen live young at a time.

Photo credit: Christian König (SHAPE/DCNA)

Dutch CaribbeanArubaParke Nacional ArikokArikok National ParkbiodiversityreptilesnakeViperidaeAruba Island rattlesnakeCrotalus unicolorcascabelIUCNRed Listcritically endangeredendemicSHAPE

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