Natalie's

Snakes declining at alarming rate

Posted by nataliesturm , Saturday 12 June 2010 14:33

To the many signs of worldwide destruction of nature, we can include now the declining of snake population. Several scientists in different countries have reported the disappearance of some species and they think this could be happening in the rest of the world too. These scientists studied 17 populations in different habitats, of which 11 were declining sharply, some of these with population crashes (sudden decline without recovery), 5 remained stable and 1 was increasing. They suggest that there is a common cause for this, because these studies included three different continents (Europe, Africa, and Australia) with different temperatures and climates. Between the most likely causes seem to be the loss of habitats and declining prey. Climate change is supposed to be the cause of the immediate threats. Snakes are very important to maintain the correct function of several ecosystems.

The idea of the declining of snakes has been in scientist minds for a while, but there had not been important evidence about it. During 1987 and 2009, researchers measured relative abundance of diverse snake populations using different methods. This is the first reliable work about this subject. Their statement is that these populations are declining. Nevertheless it’s necessary to analyse more data and get an opinion of herpetologists around the entire world to see the real magnitude of this decline and find the cause. This way it would be possible to prevent and reverse the disappearance of these animals.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/09/scientists-alarm-snakes