Brown tree snake
Scientific name: Boiga irregularis (Bechstein, 1802)
Overview
The brown tree snake, also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and many islands in northwestern Melanesia. The snake is slender, which facilitates climbing, and can reach up to 2 metres in length. Its coloration may also vary, some being brown, green, or even red. Brown tree snakes prey on a wide range of animals, from invertebrates to birds and even some small mammals. It is one of the very few colubrids found in Australia, where elapids are more common.
From the Wikipedia article “Brown tree snake”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Papua New Guinea,.
Common names
Also known in English as Brown catsnake.
Names in other languages (7)
- Arabic
- بويقة شاذة
- Chinese
- 棕樹蛇
- German
- Braune Nachtbaumnatter
- Indonesian
- Ular pohon cokelat
- Japanese
- ミナミオオガシラ
- Persian
- مار درختی قهوهای
- Russian
- Коричневая бойга
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Reptile Database.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q900781, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Brown tree snake”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — User:Soulgany101, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — USGS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026