The black-headed sword snake has been included in the List of Beneficial or Important Economic and Scientific Research Terrestrial Wildlife Protected by the State issued by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000, referred to as the Three Lists .

The black-headed sword snake is distributed in Vietnam, Laos and China Guangdong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places in the mainland generally live in mountainous areas with an altitude of 150-2000 meters and are commonly found in caves and under trees. The type of black-headed sword snake is produced in Yichang, Hubei.