BIHAREAN BIOLOGIST 11 (2): 88-93 ©Biharean Biologist, Oradea, Romania, 2017 Article No.: e171304 http://biozoojournals.ro/bihbiol/index.html

Road-killed on the island of ()

Tamás TÓTH1, Daniella BOKSAI2, Csaba GÉCZY3, Ármin MIHÁLYI1, Rita TAKÁCS4, Goran SUŠIĆ5, Júlia VINCZEK6, János GÁL7, Miklós MAROSÁN7, Balázs FARKAS8, Alexandra BOKIS1 and Miklós HELTAI9

1. Zoological and Botanical Garden of the City of Budapest, P.O. Box 469, H-1371 Budapest, Hungary. 2. Wildlife Park Budakeszi, P.O. Box 88, H-2092 Budakeszi, Hungary. 3. Gyöngyvirág u. 3/a, H-1125 Budapest, Hungary. 4. Hauptplatz 6/8, A-2115 Ernstbrunn, Austria. 5. Ornithological station , Institute of Ornithology HAZU, Ružićeva 5/2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia. 6. Öko-Pract Kft., Kossuth u. 32, H-6400 Kiskunhalas, Hungary. 7. University of Veterinary Medicine, István u. 2, H-1078 Budapest, Hungary. 8. Bercsényi u. 21, H-2464 Gyúró, Hungary. 9. Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Szent István University, Páter Károly u. 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary. *Correspnding author, T. Tóth, E-mail: [email protected]

Received: 27. May2017 / Accepted: 09. September 2017 / Available online: 05. October 2017 / Printed: December 2017

Abstract. The remains of 42 road-killed snakes belonging to six species collected on the island of Cres, Croatia in the framework of a 10-year long conservation cooperation between the Budapest Zoo and the Eko-centar Caput Insulae (Beli, Cres) are subjected to analysis. The main data of every individual and the ratio of each species represented in the sample are shown in tables. The species composition in the sample of dead snakes is compared with that reported in the literature for or observed personally by the authors in the same geographical area. The size classes most affected by vehicular traffic are revealed by statistical analysis. Finally, relying on literature data, an attempt is made to determine which road sections are the most dangerous to the snakes living on the island.

Key words: Cres island, vehicular traffic, dead-on-road, found, .

Introduction sequent developments. One of these events was that in 2012 the Eko Centar Caput Insulae Beli—an institute inspired to In recent years the northern part of the has be- protect the natural values of Cres, more precisely the nesting come the focus of interest for tourists, and the bigger is- populations of Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus—had to leave lands—such as , Lošinj and Cres—are no exceptions ei- the island and move its headquarter to the neighboring ther (Tóth et al. 2006). From the herpetological point of view, mainland (Starc 2001, Mackelworth et al. 2013, Sušić & Cres is of particular interest because—besides other rea- Radek 2013, Batel et al. 2014). sons—the 45th parallel north passes through the island, di- The renovation and modernization of the roads is a so- viding its climate into Mediterranean and temperate climate licitous change from the conservational point of view— zones (Balon et al. 2005). If we compare the human popula- though it is useful for the travelers, it is undoubtedly harm- tion density of Cres (406 km2; appr. 4000 inhabitants) to that ful to the local fauna. The newly made carriageways are of the neighboring islands of Krk (406 km2; 14000 inhabi- missing wildlife crossings, while between the opposite lanes tants) or Lošinj (77 km2; 8500 inhabitants) it turns out that and on their edges in total three high, parallel running con- while the population density on Krk is 34 people/km2 and crete walls block the transition of the fauna living on the two 110 people/km2 on Lošinj, it is merely 10 people/km2 on sides of the road. On those road sections, where the men- Cres (Mavrović 1997, Balon et al. 2005). tioned concrete walls are lacking, the increased traffic means The herpetofauna of Cres has been the subject of several bigger danger to the local fauna, mainly to smaller verte- surveys (e.g., Bruno 1980, Sehnal & Schuster 1999, Rathbauer brates. 2002, Tóth et al. 2006) and based on these investigations a to- The same problem elsewhere in the Mediterranean Re- tal of 23 amphibian and species are now known to oc- gion was also addressed in the works of Kambourova- cur with certainty on the island, while the presence of a few Ivanova et al. (2012) and Vujović et al. (2015). The first paper others (e.g., Bombina variegata, Hemidactylus turcicus, Tarentola reported that there were substantial differences in the distri- mauritanica, Lacerta trilineata, Podarcis siculus, Natrix tessellata, bution of dead-on-road (DOR) vertebrates along sections of Vipera ammodytes) remains unconfirmed. On Krk 28 (records secondary vs. primary roads in Bulgarian Thrace. Not count- of Tarentola mauritanica, Lacerta bilineata and Podarcis muralis ing migrating frogs killed in the breeding season the largest need confirmation), on Lošinj 12 species have been sighted number of vertebrates run over on secondary roads were so far (occurrences of Lacerta trilineata and Eurotestudo her- birds, and on primary roads and amphibians. The manni are to be verified). authors concluded that among reptiles the proportion of While Krk is accessible via a bridge, Cres and Lošinj can snakes surpassed 50% in both categories (62.5% secondary, be reached only by ferry. This fact as well as the lack of big- 68.5% primary road). Vujović et al. (2015) investigated the ef- ger hotels on the island of Cres impeded some of the tourist fects of fire and vehicular traffic on a population of invasion and contributed to the preservation of natural val- Hermann’s Tortoises Eurotestudo hermanni along a speedway ues. However, in the last decade the infrastructure of Cres in Montenegro (Crna Gora). Results showed that the number started to improve and the touristic improvements got under of adult individuals greatly surpassed that of sub adults way again. While these improvements have a number of fallen victim to vehicular traffic. It was also shown that the positive effects, they are shadowed by some worrysome sub- installation of rock fall netting reduced the number of run Road-killed snakes on the island of Cres (Croatia) 89 overs but at the same time constituted a deadly trap for tor- 360 mm (120+240 mm) long Western Green Lizard Lacerta bilineata in toises seeking escape from fire. the digestive system of an Eastern Montpellier Snake Malpolon insig- Similar studies have also been published in the neighbor- nitus. In the second case we recovered a well-digested adult Dalma- tian Wall Lizard Podarcis melisellensis from the stomach of a 627 mm ing Romania. Thus, for example, Ciolan et al. (2017) found a long Cat Snake Telescopus fallax. Measuring the lenght of the latter total of 48 taxa (most of which were from invertebrates) be- lizard was not possible due to its poor condition. tween the dead on a 4.5 km road section, between In the next part of our work we try to make comparisons to the March and October 2016. Their study also pointed out, that data extracted from various publications, during which we will most of the animals fell victim to transport in the spring, and compare, species by species, the ratio of snakes observed alive in the in the summer this figure dropped and rose again in the au- wild and run over—as much as the available information allows it. tumn. A similar result was obtained by Cicort-Lucaciu et al. This comparison implies that it is not necessarily the most frequently (2016), they found the dead individuals of 50 different taxa observed snake species that most frequently becomes victim to ve- hicular traffic. In the case of ratio differences between the two in two days, on three different secondary roads, due to the groups we will also make an attempt to reveal the possible reasons car traffic. In their case, invertebrates were also dominant. for these differences. In the following section of the present work— Both recent studies have shown that amphibians were pre- based on the available data—we try to determine those size limits of sented in the largest number among the vertebrates, as pre- each species in which they fall victim to road traffic the most. To viously described by Cicort-Lucaciu et al. (2012) too. On reach the above formulated goals we made statistical analyses as some occasions, between these carcasses also have speci- well, using the available data. At the end of our work a Table 4 mens of species that offer new faunistic findings. Thus, for summarizes the most endangered size categories species by species, regarding running over. The determination of the confidence inter- example, in September 2011, a flooded Eryx jaculus verified val is a method of statistical evaluation (Table 3), which is calculated for the first time that the species occurred in Romania north with the help of the statistical estimator made from the sample. In of the river (Covaciu-Marcov et al., 2012). the current case we worked on a 95% confidence level and with 5% Upon recognizing this problem employees of the Eko error which are the most frequently used values in similar statistical Centar and employees of the 10 years long collaborating Bu- examinations. dapest Zoo & Botanical Garden wished to deal with it as Using both our own and other running over data found in the well, alongside conducting basic botanical and zoological re- literature we also marked on a map (Fig. 1) those road sections search. As part of the mentioned cooperation personnel of where—according to our present knowledge—the snakes succumb to vehicular traffic in the largest numbers. Budapest Zoo have taken part in basic zoological research on various islands of the Cres–Lošinj Archipelago from 2002 on (Tóth et al. 2006, 2009a, 2009b, Sós et al. 2009), and have ob- Results served numerous snakes run over by cars, primarily on Cres. Thus, by analyzing literature data and collecting dead-on- Run over specimens of six out of the eight species that occur road snakes we seeked to investigate which species, which with certainty on the island were found on the roads (speci- genders and which size classes were the most affected by mens of the Grass Snake Natrix natrix and the Smooth Snake vehicular traffic on the island. By overviewing data from the Coronella austriaca were not found among the run over literature we wished to establish whether the number of run ones), numbering roughly 42 individuals. Unfortunately, over snakes increased in the past few years. In addition we most of these collected specimens were in a very bad state, wanted to determine which road sections were the most many of them were incomplete, which made a thorough dangerous in this respect. Finally by collecting DOR speci- analysis difficult. Only five out of the 42 specimens were in mens we hoped to verify the presence of species previously such condition that made possible to collect tissue and organ undocumented or unvouchered from the island. samples from them; the obtained results from these samples will be published elsewhere, at a later time. After the data

taking work, the corpses were handed over to the Herpeto- Material and methods logical Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Mu- The targeted collection of run over specimens was carried out be- seum, where the conservation/fixation and storing of the tween the 1st of January 2010 and the 31st of December 2012 and the still usable specimens were taken care of. corpses were stored frozen at the former headquarters of the Eko Centar Beli until the end of the research period. We also collected Balkan Whip Snake gemonensis run over snakes occasionally prior to the mentioned research period, Bruno (1980) found in 1974 two, whilst in 1975 one living which were stored at the base of the Croatian partner as well, along- specimen of this snake on the island, while Sehnal & Schus- side specimens found by the local researchers and volunteers. Most ter (1999) reported that between 1997-98 they observed 7 liv- of the collected specimens were found on roads between Beli and Cres, and between Cres and Merag, because the employees of both ing individuals on Cres, respectively two run over speci- the Zoo and the Eko Centar mainly commuted in this region. Inde- mens in 1998. Rathbauer (2002) and his colleagues met this pendently from this a smaller portion of the corpses were collected species as well here in 2002, on several occasions. According by volunteers in the southern part of the island, but unfortunately to these, they found them several times on the Merag Penin- we could not get an accurate picture about exact locations, times and sula, on the road leading to Beli, along the tourist trail near circumstances of the collection of some of these run over snakes. Beli, and in the city of Cres. Beyond these they saw (pre- During data collection we recorded the weight (if it made sense), sumably single) living specimens at the Merag–Porozina– and the main body measurements of the snakes, and pictures were Cres junction near , in the gardens of Predošćica, taken of every specimen. We could not find ecto- and endoparasites due to the state of the corpses; there were no eggs in the dead ani- respectively two individuals next to Hrasta, and further ones mals and we managed to identify the gender only in 8 cases in total. were found near Punta Križa and southeast of Osor as well. Stomach contents were found in two cases: at first we discovered a Apart from this, Rathbauer (2002) found a run over speci- 90 T. Tóth et al.

Table 1. Hierophis gemonensis (H. g.) Elaphe quatuorlineata (E. q.), Zamenis situla (Z. s.), Malpolon insignitus (M. i.) and Telescopus falax (T. f.) specimens collected on the island of Cres and their measure- ments.

Identifier Total lenght in mm Comment H. g. 1. 425 Back bodypart is missing H. g. 2. 450 - H. g. 3. 717 male H. g. 4. 348 - H. g. 5. 670 male H. g. 6. 150 - H. g. 7. 849 - H. g. 8. 722 male H. g. 9. 567 - E. q. 1. 410 - E. q. 2. 516 - E. q. 3. 419 - E. q. 4. 1650 male E. q. 5. 441 - E. q. 6. 395 - E. q. 7. 416 - Z. s. 1. 545 - Z. s. 2. 635 - Z. s. 3. 406 - M. i. 1. 980 - M. i. 2. 890 End of the tail is missing M. i. 3. 767 - M. i. 4. 1010 - M. i. 5. 725 - M. i. 6. 722 - M. i. 7. 548 - M. i. 8. 486 - M. i. 9. 369 male M. i. 10. 1110 female M. i. 11. 1030 female M. i. 12. 965 -

Figure 1. Locations of snakes found run over on Cres based on litera- M. i. 13. - - ture data presented in Table 6 (Symbols: Hierophis gemonensis: M. i. 14. - - green; Elaphe quatuorlineata: light blue; Zamenis situla: dark blue; M. i. 15. 634 The corpse is not complete Malpolon insignitus: red; Telescopus fallax: yellow; the red and green M. i. 16. 568 - lines indicate Rathbauer’s [2002] ‘battlefield’ along the Belej–Osor T. f. 1. 610 - road section). T. f. 2. 413 The corpse is not complete

T. f. 3. 627 - men near Lake Vrana and claimed that several individuals T. f. 4. 531 - fell victim to vehicular traffic daily on the Belej–Osor road. T. f. 5. 562 - T. f. 6. Dieckmann (2004), based on his experiences in 2002, also de- 539 The head is missing clared that the species was common throughout the island but he did not mention run over specimens. Tóth et al. (2006) ing individuals of the species on the island between 1994 stated that between 2001–2005 they themselves found this and 1998. In contrast, Rathbauer (2002) and his collagues snake twice in Beli, as well as many other times along the found five living four-lined snakes on Cres in 2002, while Eco-Trail next to Beli, respectively on one occasion around Dieckman (2004) observed several live young and subadult the ruins of the Sveti Bartolomej monastery as live speci- specimens on this island, likewise in 2002. Mayer (Wien, mens. Apart from this they met this species DOR near the pers. com.) found an additional living individual of this spe- crossing of the roads toward Cres–Merag–Porozina, south- cies in 2002 in this area. On the contrary, Tóth et al. (2006) east of Lubenice, respectively on the road between Punta between 2001 and 2005 found two living and one run over Križa and Osor (Fig. 2). However, these individuals are in- specimen on the island (Fig. 2), though the DOR individual cluded in the data shown in the Table 1. is included in the Table 1.

Four-lined Snake Elaphe quatuorlineata Leopard Snake Zamenis situla Bruno (1980) saw and photographed a single living speci- Bruno (1980) found two living Leopard Snakes and a shed- men in 1977, while Sehnal & Schuster (1999) found seven liv- ding in 1977 and in 1979 in this area, while Sehnal & Schus- Road-killed snakes on the island of Cres (Croatia) 91

Figure 2. Run over young Elaphe quatuorlineata on Cres.

ter (1999) saw four living specimens in total between 1997 Figure 3. Run over Malpolon insignitus specimen on Cres. and 1998 in the same area. Dieckman (2004) reported the ob- servation of a single living specimen from his trip in 2002, The conclusion of the results respectively Mayer (Wien, pers. com.) also found another with the help of statistical analysis living one on Cres in the same year, while Tóth et al. (2006) The coefficient of variation expresses the ratio of the varia- found only one freshly run over individual on the island be- tion correlated to the mean (Table 2), namely that our data tween 2001 and 2005 (Table 1). set—in this case the size measurements of a species—is how

Aesculapean Snake Zamenis longissimus Table 2. Mean total lengths of run over snakes per species and the On Cres we found a single, run over specimen of this species mean differing from the mean size (deviation). in a rather good state, which had the following main pa- rameters: body weight 265 g, total length 1104 mm, girth Species Variation coefficient (%) Mean Mean around the neck 40 mm, girth in the middle of the body 73 Hierophis gemonensis 40,45031* 544,22 220,14 mm. An outstanding feature of the mentioned snake was the Elaphe quatuorlineata** 10,02 432,83 43,38 strongly melanistic colouration. Zamenis situla 15,90 528,33 84,02 Bruno (1980) found only a single living (148 cm long) Malpolon insignitus 29,89* 771,71 230,66 specimen from this species on Cres in 1977, while Rathbauer Telescopus fallax 13,89 547 75,99

(2002) and his colleagues recorded three living individuals on the island. Mayer (Wien, pers. com.) found here further closely represented by the mean of the data set. Thus two living Aesculapean snakes in 2002. whether we get a true picture of the mean size of the run over snakes based only on the mean, respectively how Eastern Montpellier Snake Malpolon insignitus steady are the data collected by us. In optimal case the value Bruno (1980) found a shedding on the island in 1977, is approximately 10%. In case it exceeds 30%, the mean does whereas in 1979 he found both a run over and a living speci- not describe our data set. In case of two species (Hierophis men of this back-fanged colubrid. Sehnal & Schuster (1999) gemonensis and Malpolon insignitus) we marked with an aster- observed six living individuals between 1994 and 1998, isk (*) the value of the coefficient of variation, because in the while in 1998 they found a run over specimen. Rathbauer case of the Hierophis gemonensis it exceeded the allowed 30% (2002) reported that with his collaguages they found only and in the case of the Malpolon insignitus it approximated run over or badly injured specimens of this species on Cres that. Therefore in these two cases it is worth to ignore the ob- in 2002. Already on the day of arrival to the island three run tained mean values. over individuals were found by the participants of the expe- In short of skeletochronological examinations only the dition, as well as they observed a living one. Hereafter they most endangered sizes presented in Table 3 can be given. found one more run over and at least three living snakes, The reasons for this are the gender and individual significant though above these data the author declares that the Belej– size differences of the specimens of the same age and species Osor road during the Pentecostal festivities looked like a living in similar conditions (Pleguezuelos & Moreno 1989). ‘battlefield’, where more run over specimens of this species Further, it should be noted that the mean measurements of could be seen daily. Tóth et al. (2006) found two subadult the different populations belonging to the same species may and one adult (Fig. 3) run over individual on the island, show a significant deviation, which can be especially true in which are included in the Table 1. the case of comparing the mainland and island populations. We can find such differences between mainland (70–80 cm) Cat Snake Telescopus fallax and island (40–55 cm) specimens of the Sand Viper Vipera Sehnal & Schuster (1999) found only in 1997 one living ammodytes as well (Wettstein 1953, Biella 1983, Schweiger specimen on the island, while Tóth et al. (2006) recorded one 1992), which differences can be attributed to the meager food run over individual here in 2005, which is also included in resources available to island populations (Brodmann 1987). the Table 1. 92 T. Tóth et al.

find any evidence for its occurrence on Cres. In Table 4 we listed those locations cited in the literature where run over snakes were found on Cres. We marked on Figure 1 those points and routes to which the mentioned data are related as probably these sites are the most danger- ous to the snakes living on the island. These road sections most likely pose a similar risk to the other members of the local fauna. It can be seen that in the 1970s Bruno (1980) found only one run over snake, eight living specimens and two shed- ding on the island, while Sehnal & Schuster (1999) in the

Figure 4. The percentage of run over snakes on the island of Cres 1990s found three dead specimens alongside 25 living ones. based on the 42 specimens examined by us. However, Rathbauer (2002) stated that in May on the Belej– Osor road section more Hierophis gemonensis fell victim to the traffic every day according to the observations in 2002 he Table 3. The most endangered size categories of each species regard- made together with his colleagues. Regarding the same road ing running over, determined with the help of the confidence in- terval. We treated one significantly different specimen of Elaphe section in the same time period the same author says that for quatorlineata marked with double asterisk (**) as a prominent data Malpolon insignitus this area is a real ‘battlefield’ where many in order to be able to determine the confidence interval correctly. specimens succumb. Although the latter author does not give exact numbers of the observed snakes, it is known that Confidence interval Species he saw at least 23 living ones, coupled with the findings of (most affected sizes mm) five run over snakes mentioned individually. Based on the Hierophis gemonensis 529.76 – 558.68 presented data the number of run over snakes unequivocally Elaphe quatuorlineata** 398.12 – 467.55 seems to be increasing, which probably correlates with in- Zamenis situla 461.1 – 595.56 creasing vehicular traffic as a result of touristic boom. Malpolon insignitus 650.89 – 892.53 The conclusions derived from the map presentation can Telescopus fallax 486.2 – 607.8 underpin the connection between the number of run over

snakes and tourism, because—although Cres is not an ex- Discussion plicit touristic paradise just yet—Lošinj, the island to the south of Cres is more frequented from this aspect as for Only the Smooth Snake Coronella austriaca and the Grass more than a 100 year it is a well-known holiday resort and Snake Natrix natrix were not represented among the run cure-center. Many tourists reach the island of Lošinj via ferry over specimens of the snake species known to occur with arriving at Merag and from there passing through Cres– certainty on the island and the Dice Snake Natrix tessellata Belej–Osor they reach the bridge between the two islands, and the Sand Viper Vipera ammodytes—the presence of which therefore this may also have something to do with the fact was considered dubious—were not verified either from the that most run over snakes were found on this route. material collected on Cres (see Bruno 1980, Tóth et al. 2006, In addition to this it should be noted that the represented Bonte 2012). Although the dispersal of the Dark Green Snake run over snakes in the Table 4 —with one exception—all fell Hierophis carbonarius to this island from the neighboring Krk victim to vehicular traffic in May and June, due to the fact can be expected (Heimes 1993), for the time being we did not that for the researchers these months are the optimal ones

Table 4. The locations of the snakes found run over on Cres and the months of the events based on literature data.

No. Species Location Month Reporter 1. H. gemonensis Merag-peninsula, south of Sveti Vid June Shenal & Schuster (1999) 2. H. gemonensis West of Srem June Shenal & Schuster (1999) 3. H. gemonensis Area of Vrana-lake, towards the sea from Vrana May Rathbauer (2002) 4. H. gemonensis Crossing of Cres-Merag-Porozina May Tóth et al. (2006) 5. H. gemonensis Next to Lubenice, the region of Podolić June Tóth et al. (2006) 6. H. gemonensis 7,2 km from Punta Križa, towards Osor June Tóth et al. (2006) 7. E. quatuorlineata North of Cres June Tóth et al. (2006) 8. Z. situla Beli May Tóth et al. (2006) 9. M. insignitus Near Osor on the road towards Cres August Bruno (1980) 10. M. insignitus Betwen Belej and Srem June Shenal & Schuster (1999) 11. M. insignitus Road leading towards Merag May Rathbauer (2002) 12. M. insignitus Road leading towards Merag May Rathbauer (2002) 13. M. insignitus Road leading towards Merag May Rathbauer (2002) 14. M. insignitus Edge of the city of Cres May Rathbauer (2002) 15. M. insignitus 11,3 km from Punta Križa towards Osor June Tóth et al. (2006) 16. M. insignitus 0,5 km north of Cres June Tóth et al. (2006) 17. T. fallax Cres-Merag-Porozina crossing May Tóth et al. (2006)

Road-killed snakes on the island of Cres (Croatia) 93

Böhme, W. (1993a): Elaphe longissima (Laurenti, 1768) – Äskulapnatter. pp. 332– 372. In: Böhme, W. (ed.): Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Band 3/1. Schlangen (Serpentes) I. Aula, Wiesbaden [in German] Bonte, C. (2012): Affirmation of Coronella austriaca (Laurenti, 1768) on the island of Cres, Croatia. Herpetology Notes 5: 65-66. Brodmann, P. (1987): Die Giftschlangen Europas und die Gattung Vipera in Afrika und Asien. Kümmerly - Frey, Bern (in German). Bruno, S. (1980): L’erpetofauna delle isole di Cres, Trstenik, e Krk (Kvarner, Jugoslavija). Atti del Museo civico di storia naturale di Trieste 31 (3): 249-282. [in Italian, English summary] Cicort-Lucaciu, A.S., Covaciu-Marcov, S.D., Bogdan, H.V., Sas, I. (2012): Implication upon Herpetofauna of a Road and its Reconstruction in Carei

Figure 5. Population density on the three biggest islands of the Plain Natural Protected Area (Romania). Ecologia Balkanica 4(1): 99-105 Cicort-Lucaciu, A. S., Sas-Kovács, I., Covaciu-Marcov, S.D. (2016): Non road and the number of amphibian and reptile species pre- human influence upon road mortality on three secondary roads in the sent on these islands. Vâlsan River protected area, Romania. Muzeul Olteniei Craiova. Oltenia. Studii şi comunicări. Ştiinţele Naturii 32(2): 99-106. Ciolan, E., Cicort-Lucaciu, A.S., Sas-Kovács, I., Ferenti, S., Covaciu-Marcov, S.D. for data collection. On one hand the mentioned time period (2017): Wooded area, forest road-killed animals: Intesity and seasonal is still within the breeding and pre-estivation active period differences of road mortality on a small, newly upgraded road in western Romania. Transportation Research Part D 55: 12-20. of native snakes; on the other hand attention should be Covaciu-Marcov, S. D., Ferenti, S., Cicort-Lucaciu, A. S., Sas, I. (2012): Eryx payed to the fact that in these months tourism and vehicular jaculus (Reptilia, Boidae) north of Danube: a road-killed specimen from traffic do not reach their peak yet. During late summer road Romania. Acta Herpetologica 7(1): 41-47. traffic probably increases above the level of May and June. Dieckmann, M. (2004): Die Lacertiden der Kvarner-Inseln Cres und Lošinj / Kroatien. Die Eidechse 15 (1): 20-26. [in German, English summary] However, in this time period it is most likely that the activity Heimes, P. (1993): Coluber viridiflavus Lacepède, 1789 – Gelbgrüne Zornatter. of the snakes will decrease with the increase of temperature. pp. 177-198. In: Böhme, W. (ed.): Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Based on the available data the high ratio of the two op- Europas. Band 3/1. Schlangen (Serpentes). I. Aula, Wiesbaden. [in German] Kambourova-Ivanova, N., Koshev, Y., Popgeorgiev, G., Ragyov, D., Pavlova, istoglyphous species is prominent in the entire examination M., Mollov, I., Nedialkov, N. (2012): Effect of traffic on mortality of material. Based on our own experiences living specimens of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals on two types of roads between Malpolon insignitus can rarely be encountered on Cres, while Pazardzhik and Plovdiv region (Bulgaria). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 64(1): 57-67. among the run over carcasses the species stands out with the Mavrović, N. (1997): Cres & Lošinj: Insel, Eilande und Riffe. Tisak Trebotić, highest proportion: about 38% (16 individuals) (see Figure Zagreb. [in German] 4), for which we know no explanation. On the other hand, in Mackelworth, P., Holcer, D., Fortuna, C. M. (2013): Unbalanced governance: the Cres-Lošinj Special Marine Reserve, a missed conservation opportunity. the case of the Telescopus fallax it can be explained by its noc- Marine Policy 41: 126-133. turnal habits that only one living specimen is mentioned in Pleguezuelos, J.M., Moreno, M. (1989): Folidosis, biometria y coloración de the literature, while in our examination material the species ofidios en el SE de la Península Ibérica: Malpolon monspessulanus (Hermann). was represented by 6 specimens (14%). Beyond this it is Revista Española de Herpetología 3(2): 183-196. [in Spanish, English summary] worth to mention that determining the gender among the Rathbauer, F. (2002): Feldherpetologische Exkursion nach Cres. ÖGH-Aktuell corpses was possible only in eight specimens, with five be- 10: 6-10. [in German] ing males and three being females. Although the small sam- Schweiger, M. (1992): Die Europäische Hornotter Vipera ammodytes (Linnaues, 1758). Teil 1: Systematik, Ökologie und Lebensweise. Herpetofauna 14(77): ple size does not allow for thorough conclusions, it is con- 11-22. [in German, with English abstract] ceivable that the bigger ratio of males among run over Sehnal, P., Schuster, A. (1999): Herpetologische Beobachtungen auf der specimens is due to their increased activity in the breeding Kvarnerinsel Cres, Kroatien. Ergebnisse von fünf Exkursionen. Herpetozoa 12(3/4): 163-178. [in German, with English abstract] season, as pointed out by Schweiger (1992). Sós, E., Molnár, Z., Tóth, T., Molnár, V., Susić, G. (2009): Horvát–magyar együttműködés a fakó keselyű védelme érdekében [Hungarian–Croatian cooperation for the protection of Griffon Vultures]. Heliaca 7: 89-92. [in Hungarian, with English summary] Acknowledgments. The authors would like to thank the Budapest Starc, N. (2001): Managing island development: the Croatian case. Sociologija sela 39(1/4): 15-36. Zoo and its director general, Miklós Persányi who made the trips to Sušić, G., Radek, I.V. (2013): Vulture status and conservation in Croatia. pp.16- Croatia possible, as well as the volunteers of the Eko-Centar Cres 19. In: Andevski, J. (ed.): Vulture Conservation in the Balkan Peninsula and who had facilitated our work. We are additionally grateful to the Adjacent Regions. 10 years of research and conservation. Vulture Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia for authorizing the Conservation Foundation (VCF). collection of dead snakes and their transportation to Budapest. We Tóth, T., Grillitsch, H., Farkas, B., Gál, J., Sušić, G. (2006): Herpetofaunal data also would like to thank our fellow-travelers who assisted us in the from Cres Island, Croatia. Herpetozoa 19 (1/2): 27-58. [in English, with field: Ildikó Czigány, Bálint Halpern, Andrea Keszi, Tibor Kovács, German abstract] Tóth, T., Farkas, B., Géczy, Cs., Sós, E., Halpern, B., Molnár, Z. (2009): Levente Moharos, Zoltán Molnár, Viktor Molnár, Endre Sós, János Herpetofaunal data from and neighboring islets (Cres-Lošinj Tardi, and Vince Zsigmond. Archipelago, Croatia). Herpetozoa 22(1/2): 82-87. Tóth, T., Géczy, Cs., Sós, E., Molnár, Z. Halpern, B. (2009): Further data on the herpetofauna of Lošinj Island, Croatia. Herpetozoa 21(3/4): 192. Vujović, A., Iković, V., Golubović, A., Đorđević, S., Pešić, V. Tomović, L. (2015): References Effects of fires and roadkills on the isolated population of Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789 (Reptilia: Testudinidae) in Central Montenegro. Acta Zoologica Balon, B., Braškić, I., Galjanić, V., Manzoni, R., Sokolić, J. (2005): Lošinj. Bulgarica 67(1): 75-84. Turistička naklada d. o. o., Zagreb. [in German] Wettstein, O. (1953): Herpetologia aegaea. Sitzungsberichten der Batel, A., Basta, J., Mackelworth, P. (2014): Valuing visitor willingness to pay Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch- for marine conservation: the case of the proposed Cres–Lošinj Marine naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse, Abteilung I. Wien 162(9/10): 651-833. [in Protected Area, Croatia. Ocean & Coastal Management 95: 72-80. German] Biella, H.-J. (1983): Die Sandotter (Neue Brehm Bücherei Nr. 558), Ziemsen, ***** http://www.mccallum-layton.co.uk/stats/Home.aspx Wittenberg Lutherstadt. [in German]