Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 941-943 (2021) (published online on 29 June 2021) On the human-snake conflict: Predation attempt of Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) by Epicrates maurus Gray, 1849 on a farm in the Caribbean Region of Colombia Gerson A. Salcedo-Rivera1,*, Jessica Vanegas-Arroyo1, Cristian J. Castillo2, Jorge A. Diaz-Perez2, and Donicer Montes-Vergara3 Agricultural landscapes are highly dynamic used for agricultural and livestock activities, and environments that are home to a diversity of wildlife is situated within the tropical dry forest biome. At species, which find shelter and food in them, and can this locality, several domestic animals are raised for reproduce and survive after the transformation of their academic and research purposes, such as chickens, rams, natural habitats (Burel et al., 2013). However, some cows and rabbits. The unexpected predation attempt wildlife species can be affected as a result of hunting was observed during a daytime monitoring of the rabbit and extermination by humans since they can damage farm on 3 June 2019 at 10.00 h. Data of total length (TL) crops or attack farm animals (Rosell and Llimona, 2012; and body mass (BM; only for the rabbit) of the animals Laurance et al., 2014; Pineda-Guerrero et al., 2015; were obtained using a measuring tape and an electronic Nyhus, 2016). Reptiles can usually attack man-raised scale, respectively. The snake was identified following animals, and several snake species (e.g., Boa constrictor, Reynolds and Henderson (2018). B. imperator, Chilabothrus inornatus, Epicrates The individual of E. maurus (TL = 730 mm) was cenchria, Eunectes murinus and E. notaeus) have been detected already coiled, for 45 minutes approximately, recorded as their predators (Wiley, 2003; Pizzatto et al., over a gazapo (young rabbit) of O. cuniculus (race: 2009; Amador-Alcalá et al., 2013; Miranda et al., 2016; Chinchilla; age: 20 days old, not weaned; TL = 160 Platt et al., 2016; Brown, 2019; Herrera and Aparicio, mm; BM = 335 g). We did not observe the moment the 2019). Here, we report a predation attempt on an snake attacked the rabbit, but it was already dead due European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus, Leporidae) by to the constriction and the suffocation at the time of a Brown Rainbow Boa (Epicrates maurus, Boidae) on a our observation (Fig. 1). The snake did not swallow the farm in the Caribbean region of Colombia. rabbit and was later relocated by farm staff. The observation was reported in the Experimental The native range of O. cuniculus is Southern Europe Farm El Perico of the Universidad de Sucre, located and North Africa, but it has been introduced on almost in the municipality of Sampués, department of Sucre all continents, except Antarctica and Asia (Global (9.2116°N, -75.4021°W; Datum WGS84, 146 m Invasive Species Database, 2020). Several snakes elevation). The area is immersed in a rural landscape are known to prey this rabbit on its native geographic distribution, such as Zamenis scalaris (Colubridae), Hemorrhois hippocrepis (Colubridae) and Malpolon monspessulanus (Psammophiidae) (Jaksic and Soriguer, 1 Laboratorio de Fauna Silvestre, Grupo de Investigación en 1981; Jaksic and Ostfeld, 1983; Pleguezuelos and Fahd, Biodiversidad Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, 2004); and in Chile it was recorded as prey of Philodryas Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, 700001 Sucre, Colombia. chamissonis (Colubridae) (Jaksic and Soriguer, 1981). 2 Grupo de Investigación en Zoología y Ecología, Facultad To our knowledge, this is the first record of E. maurus de Educación y Ciencias, Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, 700001 Sucre, Colombia. eating a farm animal. In fact, the feeding behaviour 3 Grupo de Investigación en Reproducción y Mejoramiento of this snake is almost unknown and the Greater Sac- Genético Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, winged Bat (Saccopteryx bilineata, Emballonuridae) Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, 700001 Sucre, Colombia. is the only prey previously recorded (Aya-Cuero et al., * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 2019). Nevertheless, Epicrates species have a generalist © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. diet and they feed on lizards, birds and small to medium- 942 Gerson A. Salcedo-Rivera et al. still inhabiting or moving in anthropized areas shared with animal productions is unwise due to consequences of its potential effects on ecosystems (Chipman et al., 2008); thus, we consider that one of the strategies to avoid the opportunistic predation of rabbits or other farm animals (e.g., poultry) should focus on better husbandry practices with adequate location of facilities and improvement of enclosures conditions, in order to provide greater safety (Amador-Alcalá et al., 2013). Finally, the human-snake conflict is a better studied phenomenon in terms of fear and ophidism as a public health issue in Colombia (Lynch, 2012), but not as an economic problem for livestock and poultry producers, which can incline to kill the snakes as a control method and retaliation for the loss of farm animals. This premise is a relevant starting point for research and the development of effective strategies to manage attack or predation situations caused by snakes in animal production locations, with a multidisciplinary approach and integrating knowledge from areas of conservation biology and animal science. Figure 1. Predation attempt on a gazapo of Oryctolagus Acknowledgments. We thank to José Castro Carmona and Adrián cuniculus by Epicrates maurus on the Experimental Farm Medina Montes for supply the photograph and information on El Perico of the Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, Colombia. the present predation attempt. To Daniel Vásquez-Restrepo and Photo by José Castro Carmona. Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa for their important comments on the early versions of the manuscript. To María A. Olmos Salcedo for the translation review. And to the Section Editor and the sized mammals (Aya-Cuero et al., 2019); additionally, reviewers of Herpetology Notes for their valuable contributions some species have been reported as predators of that allowed the substantial improvement of the content. chickens, such as E. cenchria and C. inornatus (Wiley, 2003; Pizzatto et al., 2009). References In highly anthropized environments, wildlife species Amador-Alcalá, S., Naranjo, E.J., Jiménez-Ferrer, G. (2013): can consume farm animals as a response to the Wildlife predation on livestock and poultry: implications for apparently easy access to those not-natural prey and the predator conservation in the rainforest of south-east Mexico. Oryx 47(2): 243–250. limited availability of natural trophic resources (Rosell Aya-Cuero, C.A., Cáceres-Martínez, C.H., Esquivel, D.A. and Llimona, 2012; Nyhus, 2016); for that reason, (2019): First record of predation on Greater sac-winged bat, the predation attempt described here may reflect the Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae), by the opportunistic dietary behaviour of E. maurus, related to Colombian rainbow boa, Epicrates maurus (Serpentes: Boidae). its proximity with the farm and the animal production. Herpetology Notes 12: 815–817. Our finding also provides new information about Brown, T.W. (2019): Fowl Play: A failed predation attempt of an adult Turkey Meleagris gallopavo (Linneaus, 1758) (Chordata; the natural history of E. maurus in transformed Phasianidae) by Boa imperator (Daudin, 1803) (Squamata; environments. This snake is mainly nocturnal, and its Boidae) in Cayo District, Belize. 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