Massyn, Devon

English

Biodiversity Informatics

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small southern African country with an extremely rich reptilian biodi-versity. A new revolution in herpetology has begun in Swaziland with the opening of a new reptile parkto serve as the home base for new and exciting work. Genetic work on many species is already under wayand a new telemetry study on Black Mambas (Dendroaspis polylepis) is slated to begin in the near future.Many residents of Swaziland, who previously knew very little about their indigenous herpetofauna,have developed a newfound respect for local snakes. One new initiative is to educate people in identifica-tion and, in some circumstances, even handling of venomous snakes. Some individuals around the coun-try have been trained to handle calls and efficiently manage residential reptile removals. Snakes are killedless frequently than they were in the near past. Locals are even collecting dead snakes found on roads andbringing them in for their scientific value.This movement started just two years ago when a local woman developed a strong interest in snakes.With the help of her husband, Clifford Koen, Thea Litschka’s new passion grew at an amazing rate. Inresponse, residents are now identifying the snakes they once feared, differentiating between those that areharmless and those that are potentially dangerous. Although most still stay clear of reptiles, they will callan expert instead of just killing a snake. One result is that many lives are saved, as many human bitesoccurred when snakes were confronted.This new initiative recently opened its doors to international internships. A select few individualswith some experience will have an opportunity to experience the many African species in Swaziland.Interns will work with the captive collection in the reptile park, assisting with breeding efforts and stud-ies of indigenous species. They also will conduct extensive field research and provide educational outreachto local communities.The country is alive with reptiles! Range extensions and new species records for the country arereported with some regularity, and ongoing genetic work may reveal new discoveries leading to taxonomicchanges. The geographic diversity of the nation has isolated many populations, and Swaziland still har-bors many locations that have yet to be explored.For further information please contact Donald Schultz at don@mfezi.com.F O C U S  O N  C O N S E R V A T I O NNew Respect for the Snakes of SwazilandDevon MassynThea Litschka shows rangers at a Swazi game reserve aBlack Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) just before release.Now, instead of killing them, many mambas found inresidential areas are captured and relocated into pro-tected areas.DEVON MASSYNPhilani and Linda, seen here with a Black Mamba, havebeen working with snakes for about two years and nowregularly conduct venomous snake captures and reloca-tions. Blood is taken from snakes prior to release to sup-port genetic research. DONALD SCHULTZ

New Respect for the Snakes of Swaziland

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU

https://journals.ku.edu/iguana/article/download/17779/16038

New Respect for the Snakes of Swaziland

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Biodiversity Informatics

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU