Is it true that there are no snakes in New Zealand?

Mainly because there's a 2000km wide moat between New Zealand's North and South islands - and the West Island, the great arid, snake-infested continent you may know as Australia. read more

No Snakes. So that's why you'll find no native snakes in New Zealand. Nor will you find any in our zoos. It's illegal to bring snakes into the country and, as Te Ara, the New Zealand National Encyclopaedia gravely intones, "No exceptions are made". read more

New Zealand is one of several large islands around the globe where there have never been native snake populations. The others are Antarctica, Iceland, Ireland and Newfoundland. Snakes are more common than lizards around the world, and yet New Zealand is home to several species of lizard and not a single snake. read more

The short answer is NO, there are no native species of snakes living in the New Zealand wilderness. Read along for the more complicated and longer answer. While it is true that New Zealand does not have native land snakes, it has sea snakes that can travel long distances, even all the way from Australia and the smaller islands of South Pacific. read more