SANBI

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

Assessed as Least Concern because this species has a large distribution. Over much of its range, it is common and has not been impacted by any major threatening process, or undergone significant population declines. However, the subpopulation in Zimbabwe may now be extinct and there have been reductions in populations impacted by urbanization in parts of Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Distribution

A southern African endemic with a temperate distribution (Alexander and Marais 2007). In South Africa it occurs from sea level in the Western Cape, through the Cape Fold Mountains into the Eastern Cape, northwards along the eastern escarpment, through KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State grasslands into Gauteng, eastern North West Province, Mpumalanga and western Eswatini [Swaziland] (Bates et al. 2014). The seemingly isolated records in the Sutherland and Beaufort West areas are of zoogeographical interest. Historical records plotted by Broadley (1990) in the northwestern regions of Western Cape have not been confirmed in recent years, and the same applies to the Kimberley locality. A relict population occurs in the Inyanga highlands of Zimbabwe (Nyanga National Park) (Broadley 1974, Broadley and Blaylock 2013). This species is found between sea level and 2,500 m above sea level.

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

This species is locally abundant in parts of its range and is inferred to be stable.

Threats

Transformation of habitat due to urbanization results in population declines and local extirpations. This has been most evident in the southwest Cape where few recent records have been collected.

Uses and trade

Conservation

The species occurs in a number of protected areas across its range and is considered well protected; however, there are no known species-specific conservation measures in place.

References

[@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@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{23102,
 address = {Frankfurt am Main},
 author = {Broadley, D.G. and Blaylock, R.},
 publisher = {Edition Chimaira},
 title = {The Snakes of Zimbabwe and Botswana},
 year = {2013}
}
,@article{177556,
 author = {Broadley, D.G.},
 journal = {The Rhodesian Science News},
 pages = {304--306},
 title = {Current research projects of the Department of Herpetology, Umtali Museum},
 volume = {8},
 year = {1974}
}
,@article{177556,
 author = {Dawson, P., Alexander, G.J. and Nicholls, S.},
 journal = {Animal Technology},
 pages = {71--76},
 title = {The rinkhals (<i>Hemachatus haemachatus</i>) a southern African venomous snake - housing, husbandry and maintenance},
 volume = {42},
 year = {1991}
}
,@phdthesis{177556,
 author = {Alexander, G.J.},
 school = {Ph.D. Thesis, University Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.},
 title = {Thermal Physiology of <i>Hemachatus haemachatus</i> and its Implications to Range Limitation},
 year = {1996}
}
,]

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