It is endemic to western Sichuan Province in China.

[1][2] This snake is designated as Endangered by the IUCN Red List.

It is one of three species of Asian rat snakes which were formerly assigned to the genus Elaphe.

They were separated from Elaphe in 2002 by Utiger et al. following evidence from DNA analysis.

It is a true rat snake but it is not as closely related to other northern-hemisphere rat snakes as its former place in Elaphe would suggest.