COLCHESTER Zoo's latest arrival is "settling in well" after travelling across the country to its new home. 

Keepers have announced that Nino, a ten-year-old green anaconda, has joined Colchester Zoo earlier this month after leaving Hertfordshire Zoo.

Part of the boa family of snakes, the anaconda, one of the biggest and heaviest snakes in the world.

Green anacondas can grow to more than 8 metres long and weigh more than 250kg.

According to the zoo, Nino is larger than the zoo’s current resident male, Houdini.

Venue - Colchester ZooVenue - Colchester Zoo (Image: Newsquest) The green anaconda, due to its large size, has difficulty moving on land but can move stealthily through water

A statement on Colchester Zoo’s website said: “Since Nino’s arrival, he has remained in a special behind-the-scenes area where he has been carefully monitored by the Animal Care Team.

“After settling in well, he has since been moved to his new home at River’s Edge which he will share with male green anaconda, Houdini.”

Houdini moved from Prague Zoo in 2009 and has been a member of Colchester Zoo since then.

Snake - Nino, the green anacondaSnake - Nino, the green anaconda (Image: Colchester Zoo) Boas are non-venomous constrictor snakes which kill their prey by coiling their bodies around their prey.

They also have loose jaw bones which allows them to open their jaws wide to swallow their prey.

Green anacondas are registered as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, but their habitat has declined over the years due to deforestation.

Since its establishment in 1974, the organisation has become known as one of the world’s most comprehensive sources on global extinction status data for animals, fungus and plant species.

This follows on from when Colchester Zookeepers announced that the zoo’s squirrel monkey Milu has given birth to a female squirrel monkey.

It is Milu’s sixth baby, and she will carry the   on her back until the baby is strong enough to explore and climb on her own.

The zoo is also moving closer to bring its “master plan vision into reality” after its new lion enclosure project was formally submitted.

The enclosure, which would be next to the Edge of Africa attraction, is a bid to create a “holistic African adventure”, and part of the zoo’s 60th anniversary celebrations.