9th Conservation Workshop for the Fauna of Arabia Conservation Status of the Terrestrial Snakes of the Arabian Peninsula 3 - 5 February 2008 Proceedings of the 9th Conservation Workshop for the Fauna of Arabia Conservation Status of the Terrestrial Snakes of the Arabian Peninsula Compiled and Edited by: William Branch1, Damien Egan2 and Jane Edmonds2 Organised by the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife & Sponsored by the Environment & Protected Areas Authority Government of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 3-5 February 2008 Contact Details 1 Bayworld PO Box 13147, Humewood, 6031, South Africa Email:
[email protected] 2 Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife PO Box 29922, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Email:
[email protected] Contents Executive Summary v Conservation Status of the Terrestrial Snakes of the Arabian Peninsula 1 Introduction 3 General Assessments 4 Taxon Assessments 5 Geographical hot spots and areas of high study priority 17 Threats 19 Recommendations 22 Actions 24 References 25 APPENDIX 1: Taxon Data Sheets & Distribution Maps 26 APPENDIX 2: Collection of Tissue for DNA Studies 207 APPENDIX 3: Participants List 208 Cover Photo: Arabian Horned Viper Cerastes gasperettii © Johannes Els List of Figures Figure 1. Diversity hot-spots. 17 Figure 2. Hot-spots for Vulnerable and Near Threatened species. 18 Figure 3. Areas with little historical data. 19 Figure 4. Distribution of Buri’s Thread Snake (Myriopholis burii) in the Arabian Peninsula. 31 Figure 5. Distribution of Nurse’s Thread Snake (Myriopholis nursii) in the Arabian Peninsula. 36 Figure 6. Distribution of the Large-snouted Thread Snake (Myriopholis macrorhynchus) in the Arabian Peninsula.