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Sven Tränkner

Permanent exhibition

Anaconda


The anaconda is one of the most popular and oldest exhibits in the Senckenberg Natural History Museum Frankfurt. The almost 100-year-old public favorite has impressed several generations.
On 1 February, she said goodbye to a wellness holiday. Although she is now being restored behind the scenes for the time being, visitors can interact with her. You can find the contact on this page.

For almost 100 years, the over five meter long snake with prey has been a favorite of visitors to the Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt.

The great anaconda (Eunectes murinus) has – above a certain size – no natural enemies. It is at the top of the food chain and eats everything that surprises it as a lurking hunter and can overpower it with its immense physical strength and mass. In many places, capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris), the world’s largest rodents, are the main food source of the large constrictor snakes. To devour the meal, the reptile literally pulls its flexible body over the prey with the help of its very mobile jaws. The taxidermist of the time created the unusual arrangement of capybara and the anaconda in the looping phase in coordination with Senckenberg reptile researchers of the time. 

Historical image of the anaconda from 1927. Since then, the dermoplastic has been one of the highlights of the museum and has left its mark on generations of visitors.

Return in the near future

Since the beginning of February, the anaconda with capybara has been removed from its display case. It had been planned to return the popular “largemouth” to the exhibition by the end of April 2023. The professional restoration of the nearly 100-year-old exhibit must be meticulously planned and carried out with great care. In the meantime, a team of experts involving conservators from the Leather Museum in Offenbach and the Städel was created under the direction of our zoological taxidermist Udo Becker.

Extensive examinations of the damage and contamination as well as material analyses led to the conclusion that the intensive restoration work on this crowd favorite will take at least one year. After its restoration, the anaconda will return to a climate-controlled display case with permanent humidity control. The company Glasbau Hahn from Frankfurt was commissioned with the conversion of the large display case. The surrounding showcases will address various questions: Are dinosaurs related to modern reptiles? What do herpetologists do? What species of snakes can be found in Germany? And how do venomous snakes differ from constrictor snakes? For this purpose, we are still collecting donations.

To help museum visitors through the “anaconda-free time,” we offer a take-home “star cut” with information about the popular reptile. Using the form below, visitors can engage in dialogue with the snake, inquire about its current condition, and also share their own stories, photos, and drawings of the exhibit.

The extraction of anaconda

And off we go!
With such a gigantic animal, you need all the help you can get.
Across the yard…
…and off to check whether everything is in order.
The anaconda is carefully placed.
Here it remains for the time being. But not for long!

Contact

If you have any questions for the Anaconda during its wellness vacation or would like to share your memories with it in the form of photos or narrated anecdotes, please feel free to do so using the form below.