Collectors endanger Australia's most threatened snake, the broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides

Webb, JK; Brook, BW; Shine, R

Collectors endanger Australia's most threatened snake, the broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides

Webb, JK

Brook, BW Shine, R

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: ORYX, 2002, 36 (2), pp. 170 - 181
Issue Date:: 2002-02-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Webb, JK https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4822-6829	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Brook, BW	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Shine, R	en_US
dc.date.issued	2002-02-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	ORYX, 2002, 36 (2), pp. 170 - 181	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0030-6053	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22115
dc.description.abstract	The collection of reptiles for the pet trade is often cited as a potential problem for threatened species, but quantitative data on the effects of this trade on wild populations are lacking. In south-eastern Australia the decline of the threatened broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides has been blamed on habitat destruction and the collection of snakes for pets, but there was little evidence to support the latter hypothesis. During 1992-2000 we studied one of the last extant southern populations of broad-headed snakes in Morton National Park, New South Wales, where <600 individuals remain on an isolated plateau. Analysis of 9 years of mark-recapture data reveal that the activities of snake collectors seriously endanger the viability of this species. The study population of H. bungaroides was stable over 1992-1996, but declined dramatically in 1997, coincident with evidence of illegal collecting, possibly stimulated by a government amnesty that allowed pet owners to obtain permits for illegally held reptiles. Survivorship analyses revealed that 85% of adult females disappeared from the population in 1997. There was no such effect on male survivorship, suggesting that snake collectors selectively removed adult females, which are the largest snakes in the population. Humans caused significant damage to fragile rock outcrops in three of the 9 years of the study, and a second bout of habitat disturbance in 1999 coincided with a second decline in the H. bungaroides population. We recommend that locked gates be placed on fire trails to protect existing populations of broad-headed snakes. © 2002 FFI.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	ORYX	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1017/S0030605302000248	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Collectors endanger Australia's most threatened snake, the broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	36	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	0608 Zoology	en_US
dc.location.activity	Glasgow, Scotland
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	36	en_US

Abstract:

The collection of reptiles for the pet trade is often cited as a potential problem for threatened species, but quantitative data on the effects of this trade on wild populations are lacking. In south-eastern Australia the decline of the threatened broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides has been blamed on habitat destruction and the collection of snakes for pets, but there was little evidence to support the latter hypothesis. During 1992-2000 we studied one of the last extant southern populations of broad-headed snakes in Morton National Park, New South Wales, where <600 individuals remain on an isolated plateau. Analysis of 9 years of mark-recapture data reveal that the activities of snake collectors seriously endanger the viability of this species. The study population of H. bungaroides was stable over 1992-1996, but declined dramatically in 1997, coincident with evidence of illegal collecting, possibly stimulated by a government amnesty that allowed pet owners to obtain permits for illegally held reptiles. Survivorship analyses revealed that 85% of adult females disappeared from the population in 1997. There was no such effect on male survivorship, suggesting that snake collectors selectively removed adult females, which are the largest snakes in the population. Humans caused significant damage to fragile rock outcrops in three of the 9 years of the study, and a second bout of habitat disturbance in 1999 coincided with a second decline in the H. bungaroides population. We recommend that locked gates be placed on fire trails to protect existing populations of broad-headed snakes. © 2002 FFI.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22115