Its neck is narrower than its head, but its stout trunk region can easily have a diameter of more than twice the width of its head. Its short tail tapers to a blunt end. Females are larger, on average. Alternating black and pale stripes along its face partly mask its dark eyes. Many of the lobed spots contain small dark spots.
Some individuals have light or dark, broken or solid stripes along the spine.
Young animals' spots are often yellow or golden, and darken as they age. A rare genetic piebald form, with patches of pure white, is found in the wild in Ghana and Togo, and breeders are using several imported animals to produce a captive-bred piebald line. Other rare color variations found in the wild include animals lacking yellow, black or red pigments, or whose dark markings fade with age. They live 20-25 years in captivity. At Highland Park Zoo in Pennsylvania one lived 47 years.