This aquatic snake is a nocturnal species that basks during the day (Martins and Oliveira 1998). Rivas (2000) described the species as crepuscular, showing higher activity at the end of the day and early in the evening. He found snakes moving, stalking prey, constricting prey, and mating at all times of the day as well as during the night. It is found in various aquatic habitats including oxbow lakes in western Amazonia (Martins and Oliveira 1998) and in hyper-seasonal savannas (llanos) in Venezuela (Rivas 2000). It is an euryphagic species, feeding on several aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates like fishes, reptiles, birds, large size mammals and other snakes and members of their own species. As juveniles anacondas feed heavily on birds, and gradually include reptiles and mammals in their diet as they grow larger (Martins and Oliveira 1998, Rivas 2000, Infante-Rivero et al. 2008, Rivas et al. 2016). It is a live-bearing species (Duellman 1978, Martins and Oliveira 1998). Neonates, particularly male, exhibit many of the characteristic life history traits of adults, such as "slow growth rates, low feeding frequency, little mobility, and preference for similar habitats of stagnant, shallow water covered by aquatic vegetation" (Rivas et al. 2016).

This species occurs broadly in South America in the Llanos, Amazonia, and the Pantanal, east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Trinidad (Cole et al. 2013, Infante-Rivero et al. 2008). It occurs at elevations between sea level and 1,000 m.

This species occurs in many protected areas and indigenous reserves throughout its range. The species is protected under CITES Appendix II. This species requires environmental education campaigns to reduce persecution. Research is needed on population trends. Studies on regional commercial trade activities for medicinal purposes, are recommended.