Indigo snakes are considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Tortoise numbers also declined due to habitat degradation from fire suppression strategies in the area, said TWS member Brian Folt, a postdoctoral researcher at Auburn University. People were also harvesting the tortoises themselves for food, Elmore said. But the burrows had been gassed for decades in an effort to flush out eastern diamondback rattlesnakes ( Crotalus adamanteus) from the holes as part of rattlesnake roundups, annual events involving the capturing of snakes for sale, food, display or to be used in animal products. Indigo snakes use tortoise burrows, especially during winter in parts of their range that drop below freezing.
One of the problems the team addressed was the concurrent loss of gopher tortoises ( Gopherus polyphemus). Under the guidance of the Eastern Indigo Snake Reintroduction Committee, a group of stakeholders - including state wildlife managers from Florida, Georgia and Alabama - as well as federal wildlife managers and representatives from the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, a partner of the Central Florida Zoological Society and the Orianne Society that founded it, partners have been working to restore snake habitats and plan reintroductions since the early 2000s. The snakes were extirpated from much of their western range - the Florida Panhandle, Alabama and Mississippi - by the start of the new millennium. While this problem has lessened in recent years, habitat loss and death from car strikes continue to create obstacles to their recovery. The reptiles have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1978 due to being captured for the pet trade.
Fish and Wildlife Service.īut the striking appearance of the eastern indigo snake ( Drymarchon couperi) is also partly the reason for its decline. They’re large, they’re interesting - they’re beautiful,” said Michele Elmore, the species’ lead biologist for the U.S. But just blink and catch the orange-throated serpent in a different light and the sheen of its back might glisten in a deep, dark blue occasionally speckled with white or beige checkers. Forest Service – Southern RegionĪt the right angle, the second longest native snake in the United States and Canada is a shimmery black. Indigo snakes have been captured for use in the pet trade partly due to their striking appearance.Ĭredit: U.S.
0 kommentar(er)
