Meadow viper  (Vipera ursinii)

The taxonomic status, and therefore distribution, of the meadow viper has been widely debated (2). Although formerly thought to spread from Central Europe to Central Asia, latest scientific thought is that the Asian subspecies should be elevated to separate species status (7). Under these classifications, the meadow viper (Vipera ursinii) is found only in Italy and France (V. u. ursinii), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and northern Albania (V. u. macrops), central Greece (V. u. graeca), Hungary (V. u. rakosiensis) (possibly extinct in Romania and Austria), Romania and possibly Bulgaria (V. u. moldavica) (7).

The meadow viper inhabits meadows, farmlands, mountain pastures, rocky hillsides, and open, grassy fields, up to 8,000 feet above sea level (6) (8).