File Snakes: Acrochordidae

The file snakes live from India to Southeast Asia and Australia. They inhabit northern Australia, the Solomon Islands east of New Guinea, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Some people collect file snakes as food and for their skin, which is used for leather. Since the snake reproduces only once every two years, or even less often, such collecting over the years could lead to dangerous drops in the numbers of snakes. People only rarely collect file snakes for the pet trade.

File snakes are not considered threatened, but some populations may have low numbers. Habitat loss, as well as habitat damage from water pollution, or dirtying and poisoning of water, may hurt their ability to survive into the future. In areas with large fish populations, however, file snakes can become very numerous. Scientists have counted 100 or more Arafura file snakes on every 2 acres (0.8 hectare) of some Australian billabongs.