Cfreptiles & Amphibians

WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 24(1):17–29 • APR 2017 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES . ChasingHerpetofauna Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: of a Ramsar Site: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: BeeshazarA Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................ and Associated Lakes,Robert W. Henderson 198 RESEARCHChitwan ARTICLES National Park, Nepal . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis1 equestris) in Florida 1 1,2,3 4 Santosh ............................................. Bhattarai , ChiranjibiBrian J. Camposano, P. Pokheral Kenneth L. ,Krysko, Baburam Kevin M. Lamichhane Enge, Ellen M. Donlan,, andand Michael Naresh Granatosky Subedi 212 1National Trust for Nature Conservation-Biodiversity Conservation Center, Ratnanagar-18, Sauraha, Chitwan 44204 Nepal ([email protected]) CONSERVATION ALERT 2Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands . World’s Mammals3Evolutionary in Crisis ............................................................................................................................... Ecology Group, Faculty of Sciences, Antwerp University, Antwerp,.............................. Belgium 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 4National Trust for Nature Conservation-Kathmandu . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225 Photographs by the senior author unless otherwise indicated. HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 Abstract.—ThePROFILE Nepalese herpetofauna has been poorly studied, and little is known about the distribution of the coun- . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 try’s amphibians and reptiles. We surveyed the herpetofauna at Beeshazar and associated lakes, a Ramsar site situated in the buffer zoneCOMMENTARY of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We conducted surveys between June and July 2015 using line transects, and nocturnal. The Turtles and Have Beendiurnal Watching visual Me ........................................................................................................................ encounter surveys (VES). We recorded 47 species Eric Gangloff comprising 238 13 anurans, 11 lizards, 18 snakes,BOOK fourREVIEW turtles, and one crocodilian. This document will serve as source material for outreach activities in conservation. Threatened awareness Amphibians of the of the herpetofauna World edited by S.N. in Stuart, the M.buffer Hoffmann, zone J.S. of Chanson, the park. N.A. Cox,The present study suggests that the species compositionR. of Berridge, Beeshazar P. Ramani, and and B.E.associated Young .............................................................................................................. lakes is likely to increase with additional Robert systematic Powell 243 inventories. CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 Key words: Herpetofauna, NATURAL HISTORY species RESEARCH richness, REPORTS Beeshazar: Summaries Lake, of PublishedChitwan Reports National on Natural HistoryPark, ................................. Nepal 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 mphibians and FOCUSreptiles ON have CONSERVATION received a: lower A Project conserva You Can Support- ...............................................................................................Park in the south and the Mahabharat 252 Mountains (Pandey Ation priority in Nepal when compared to birds and mam- 2012; Lamichhane et al. 2013) to the Annapurna Himalayan mals (Schleich and Kästle 2002). This could be due to lack of range in the north. This corridor, part of the Terai Arc interest by researchers or the relatively small size of the species Landscape (TAL), is considered to be biologically impor- and their cryptic nature (e.g., Vitt etFront al. 2003).Cover. Shannon Herpetofaunal Plummer. tant.Back The Cover. fringe Michael forests Kern of the eastern and western portions Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo studies in Nepal date to Hodgson’s estibuscollections inveliquo veliquebetween rerchil 1826 ofestibus the inveliquocorridor velique (to rerchil 300 m from the edges) are managed and and 1854 (Günther 1860, 1861).erspienimus, The first quos zoogeographic accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus,utilized quosby accullabo.local communities Ilibus as Buffer Zone Community aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum information on the herpetofaunafugiatis by Swanmaionsequat and eumque Levinton Forestsfugiatis (Governmentmaionsequat eumque of Nepal 2015). The lake systems are (1962) laid the foundation for modernmoditia erereNepalese nonsedis ma herpetol sectiatur - characterizedmoditia erere nonsedis by ma a sectia mosaic- of subtropical forests, grasslands, ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as ogy. Since then, Dubois (1974, 1984),accullabo. Fleming and Fleming and pools of water. The vegetation has been categorized as Sal (1973), Kramer (1977), Nanhoe and Ouboter (1987), Zug mixed forests, riverine forests, and grasslands (Verheugt 1995; and Mitchell (1995), Das (1998), O’Shea (1998), Shrestha Government of Nepal 2014). The lake system is bordered (2000), Schleich and Kästle (2002), Tillack et al. (2003), by the national east-west highway to the north, the Rapti Shah and Tiwari (2004), Aryal et al. (2010), Pandey (2012), River to the south, and by villages to the east and west. These and Kästle et al. (2013), among others, contributed either by lake systems are home to several endangered or threatened describing new species or recording taxa new to the country. mammals, including the Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris), One- Most of the above-mentioned studies were limited to eastern horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Asian Elephant and central Nepal and frequently omitted locality records. (Elephas maximus), and critically endangered birds like the Although that collective work yielded records for 53 species White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis). Due to their global of amphibians and 137 species of reptiles in Nepal, many significance, these lake systems were designated as a Ramsar habitats remain to be explored both within and outside the Site in 2003. They also have been listed as an Important previously studied areas. Bird Area (IBA) for Nepal (Government of Nepal 2015). Beeshazar and associated lakes are the part of the However, invasive exotics such as Bitter Vine (Mikania mac- Barandabhar corridor forest that connects Chitwan National rantha), Bitterbush (Cromolina odorata), and Common Water Copyright © 2017. Santosh Bhattarai. All rights reserved. 17 BHATTARAI ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 24(1):17–29 • APR 2017 Hyacinth (Echornia crassipes) are major threats to the habitat. (Fig. 1). This is an oxbow lake system in which water is This invasion of exotics could lead to the local extirpation received through direct precipitation and from the inflow of of species, including herpetofauna, even before identification the Khageri Canal. The monsoon season extends from June and formal documentation. to September. The lake systems provide irrigation water to On a global scale, herpetofauna are declining more rapidly nearly 60,000 farmers in western Chitwan. Selected sam- than birds and mammals (Stuart et al. 2004). Conservation pling sites represented important features or habitats and are strategies are planned and executed for large charismatic listed and described in Table 1. mammals and birds, but snakes, lizards, and frogs are often From June to July 2015, we surveyed the herpetofauna overlooked (Vasudevan et al. 2006; Chettri et al. 2011). The along ten permanent line transects laid by Chitwan National inclusion of such neglected species in management plans is Park and the National Trust for Nature Conservation- necessary for the conservation of overall biodiversity at local Biodiversity Conservation Center (NTNC-BCC) for moni- and regional levels (Pawar et al. 2007; Chettri et al. 2011). toring and research activities in the Barandabhar corridor. Documenting the biodiversity of Beeshazar and associated These transects

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