Cfreptiles & Amphibians

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES &IRCF AMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 189 26(2):167–169 • AUG 2019 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS CONSERVATION IN ACTION FEATURE ARTICLES . Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: ThisOn the Road Shy to Understanding Caribbean the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Lizard Giant Serpent ...................... is JoshuaNow M. Kapfer 190 a . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 CovetedRESEARCH ARTICLES Pet—and Critically Endangered. The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight AnoleHow (Anolis equestris) in FloridaDid This Happen? .............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 Poachers have used scientific reports as maps to track down and catch the lizard. CONSERVATION ALERT . World’s Mammals in Crisis ...............................................................................................................................It’s not the only one. .............................. 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...............................................................................................................................Dina Fine Maron ............ 225 HUSBANDRY National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 20036 . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 Photographs by Jeremy Holden, Fauna & Flora International. PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 ather Mark de Silva greeted the two American herpetologists at an airstripCOMMENTARY on Union Island, one of more than 30 F . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238 specks of land in the Caribbean that make up the country of Saint Vincent and BOOKthe Grenadines. REVIEW It was a June day in 2005, . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, and they’d come to see aR. gecko. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 Not any old gecko. Months earlier when the Catholic priest and avid nature CONSERVATION observer was RESEARCHstudying REPORTS:plant life Summarieson the of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 island, he came upon NATURAL a creature HISTORY he’d never RESEARCH seen REPORTS before. :It Summaries was of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 a tiny lizard, about twoEDITORIAL and a halfINFORMATION inches long ............................................................................................................................... from snout to ...................... 251 tail, covered with bull’s-eyeFOCUS ON patterns CONSERVATION of red: andA Project black You Canwith Support ............................................................................................... 252 white centers. de Silva snapped a photo and asked around if anyone recognized the animal. No one did. Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Then the herpetologists got involved.Totat et velleseque Robert audant Powell,mo Totat et velleseque audant mo a biology professor at Avila University,estibus inveliquo in veliqueKansas rerchil City, estibus inveliquo velique rerchil Missouri, and Robert Henderson, aerspienimus, vertebrate quos zoology accullabo. expertIlibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum with the Milwaukee Public Museum,fugiatis in Wisconsin,maionsequat eumque had trav- fugiatis maionsequat eumque eled to Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesmoditia erere to nonsedislay the ma ground sectiatur - moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as work for an upcoming student trip.accullabo. When officials in the country’s forestry department mentioned de Silva’s find, the scientists were intrigued and hopped the short flight to Union Island in the hope of encountering the gecko. de Silva agreed to show the way, and together the group drove to the lush forest overlooking Chatham Bay, where they retraced his steps. It wasn’t long before Henderson spot- ted not one but two of the geckos. “We were quite pleased,” Powell remembers in the understated language of scientists. They asked de Silva to co-author a scientific paper describing the discovery—or at least to let them name the The Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini) was revealed as new to sci- ence in 2005. Poachers have since smuggled so many of the tiny lizards gecko after him—but he demurred, Powell says. So, in from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for the exotic pet industry that December 2005, they published a scientific paper about the they now may number no more than 10,000. Copyright © 2019. Dina Fine Maron. All rights reserved. 167 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 MARON IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(2):167–169 • AUG 2019 discovery of the Union Island Gecko (Gonatodes daudini), also known as the Grenadines Clawed Gecko. They included a note at the end crediting de Silva as the discoverer. What Powell and Henderson didn’t anticipate was how their paper, and subsequent detailed descriptions of the Union Island gecko’s location, would serve as a treasure map for lizard collectors. “When you put this gecko in its natural habitat—a rock crevice or cave or leaf litter—that tends to break up its outline, so rather than being a bright signal, its coloring makes it harder to see,” Powell says. “It serves a bio- logical purpose, but unfortunately it’s attractive enough that it’s appealing to pet connoisseurs.” Under the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Wildlife Protection Act of 1987, it’s illegal to remove the geckos (or any other wildlife) without written permission. But such is the insatiable appetite for new and exotic pets that collectors learn- The geckos live only in a tiny patch of forest on Union Island, where Fauna ing of the discovery soon descended on the island in search of & Flora International is working closely with the St. Vincent & the the tiny reptiles. They smuggled out so many of them that in Grenadines Forestry Department and the Union Island Environmental 2011 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Attackers to safeguard the future for these diminutive lizards. Local war- den patrols and motion sensor cameras have been set up to help protect the (IUCN), the body that sets the conservation status of wildlife, critically endangered species. categorized the Union Island gecko as critically endangered. But poachers kept coming. Between 2010 and 2018 the density of the geckos in much of their described range shrank by roughly 80 percent, says Jenny Daltry, a senior conser- Also, he says, “it’s not known what damage and disruption vation biologist and head of the Caribbean office for the to the habitat was done when the animals were collected.” nonprofit Fauna & Flora International. “It’s surprising how Getting a full picture of the illegal trade remains impossible, quickly their numbers have dropped. You hear a lot about he adds. “For all we know,” those 36 ads “could be the tip of lions and tigers but not the sheer number of reptiles being the iceberg.” traded,” she says. It’s possible, she says, that no more than 10,000 of the Not the Only Casualty of Discovery geckos now remain on Union Island. Extensive searches in With poachers scouring scientific literature for new animals the region by Powell and his team have revealed no geckos to exploit for the pet industry, the plight of the Union Island outside their forest home above Chatham Bay, an area no gecko is a familiar one. bigger than about two city blocks. If that patch of forest is The Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle (Chelodina destroyed, the geckos could go extinct. “We hold out hope mccordi), for example, became critically endangered after it that there may be others elsewhere, but despite our best efforts was identified as a unique species in Indonesia and described we have not found them,” he says. in a journal in 1994. As the IUCN noted in its listing for Chris Shepherd, executive director of Monitor, an orga- the turtle, “populations were decimated within five years and nization in British Columbia, Canada, dedicated to combat- the species is now considered commercially and ecologically

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