SANBI

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria|)

This species has an Area of Occupancy (AOO) of less than 2,000 km², a severely fragmented distribution and the habitat is undergoing reduction in area and quality. The coastal forest habitat is highly threatened (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). The AOO and number of subpopulations is decreasing as fragments of forest are transformed and lost. The AOO is estimated to have reduced from a historical level of 2,228 km² to ca. 2,104 km² in 1990 and 1,692 km² at present. This is also likely to result in a reduction in the number of mature individuals.

Distribution

Found from coastal Kenya southwards and westwards into Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa (Spawls and Branch 1995). In South Africa it is restricted to small patches of low altitude forests along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, extending as far south as the extreme northeastern parts of the Eastern Cape (Broadley 1990, Alexander and Marais 2007, Bates et al. 2014). In the south, the distribution is restricted to coastal forests. Alexander (1990) reports that it is not found more than 2 km from the sea in Durban, but recent records reveal an isolated population in a forest patch in Queensburgh nearly 15 km from the coast (http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=ReptileMAP-153807). This species area of occupancy (AOO) has declined from a historical level of >2,000 km² to ca. 1,700 km². This ongoing loss is apparent from the South African National Landcover datasets from 1990 and 2013. Comparison of these landcover data show there is ca 7% natural landcover loss within the distribution of this species in this 23 year time period. This is much greater than the 2.3% natural landcover decrease on a national scale.

Decline

Patches of coastal forest have been fragmented due to development and this is continuing, albeit at a slower pace.

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

Although this species may occur at high densities in Kenya and Tanzania (Branch 1998), population densities appear to be low in South Africa. The largest habitat fragment remaining is 136 km². The species is inferred to be in decline.

Threats

A strict habitat specialist that is restricted to Northern Coastal Forest and Swamp Forest, both of which have been reduced in extent in South Africa, and are under anthropogenic transformation (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). The range is highly fragmented and is becoming more so through land transformation (e.g. coastal housing developments, small and large scale agriculture, commercialized afforestation of exotic species, and strip mining). The species is also openly sold on the internet, but the detrimental effects of removals from the wild for trade is not known.

Uses and trade

None of the Dendroaspis are CITES listed so no international trade statistics are available. Dendroaspis angusticeps is listed on the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 Of 2004): List of Terrestrial and Fresh Water Species that are Threatened or Protected, Restricted Activities that are Prohibited, and Restricted Activities that are Exempted ("TOPS List"). This listing on TOPS prohibits removal from the wild in South Africa. The species is however, common in the pet trade (Auliya et al. 2016) and can be found in traditional medicine markets in Mozambique and South Africa (Williams and Whiting 2016). Wild caught individuals originating from South Africa if in trade, would likely have illegal origins given the TOPS regulations.

Conservation

Protect suitable habitat and monitor and measure the population densities of subpopulations. Ensure that TOPS regulations are adhered to for this species. Although the population in southern Mozambique is considered connected with those in South Africa, other localities in the northern part of the species range are not considered to be contiguous with the Mozambique-South Africa population. A phylogenetic study would assist to resolve this relationship.

References

[@article{55280,
 author = {Alexander, G.J.},
 journal = {Durban Museum Novitates},
 pages = {1--41},
 title = {Reptiles and amphibians of Durban},
 volume = {15},
 year = {1990}
}
,@book{19520513,
 address = {Pretoria, South Africa.},
 author = {Mucina, L. and Rutherford, M.C.},
 publisher = {Strelitzia 19. South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland},
 year = {2006}
}
,@book{612,
 address = {Pretoria},
 author = {Bates, M.F., Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M., Burger, M., Marais, J., Alexander, G.J. and de Villiers, M.S.},
 publisher = {Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland},
 year = {2014}
}
,@book{2817,
 address = {Cape Town},
 author = {Alexander, G.J. and Marais, J.},
 publisher = {Struik Publishers},
 title = {A Guide to Reptiles of Southern Africa},
 year = {2007}
}
,@book{10242,
 address = {Parklands, South Africa},
 author = {Broadley, D.G.},
 publisher = {Jonathan Ball and Ad. Donker Publishers},
 title = {FitzSimons' Snakes of Southern Africa},
 year = {1990}
}
,@book{110133193,
 address = {Halfway House, South Africa},
 author = {Spawls, S. and Branch, W.R.},
 publisher = {Southern Book Publishers},
 title = {The Dangerous Snakes of Africa},
 year = {1995}
}
,@article{13265770,
 author = {Auliya, M., Altherr, S., Ariano-Sanchez, D., Baard, E.H., Brown, C., Cantu, J.-C., Gentile, G., Gildenhuys, P., Henningheim, E., Hintzmann, J., Kanari, K., Krvavac, M., Lttink, M., Lippert, J., Luiselli, L., Nilson, G., Nguyen, T.Q., Nijman, V., Parham, J., Pasachnik, S.A., Pedrono, M., Rauhaus, A., Rueda, D., Sachnez, M.-E., Schepp, U., van Schingen, M., Scheeweiss, N., Segniagbeto, G.H., Shepherd, C., Stoner, S., Somaweera, R., Sy, E., Türkosan, O., Vinke, S., Vinke, T., Vya, R., Williamson, S. and Ziegler, T.},
 journal = {Biological Conservation },
 pages = {103:199},
 title = {Trade in live reptiles and its impact on reptile diversity: the European pet market as a case study},
 volume = {204},
 year = {2016}
}
,@proceedings{13265770,
 editor = {Pook, C.E., Fry, B.G., Lambert, M., Favreau, P., Doljansky, Y. and Wüster, W.},
 series = {Book of Abstracts, 5th World congress of Herpetology},
 title = {A phylogeny of <i>Dendroaspis</i>  (Elapidae), according to mitochondrial DNA and toxin amino acid sequence data.},
 year = {2005}
}
,@article{13265770,
 author = {Williams. V.L. and Whiting, M.J.},
 journal = {Journal of Ethnopharmacology},
 pages = {265--273},
 title = {A picture of health? Animal use and the Faraday traditional medicine market, South Africa},
 volume = {179},
 year = {2016}
}
,]

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