Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First Off:
Let me extend my condolences to those lost in the tragic 9.0 holiday earthquake disaster in south east Asia. This tragedy is beyond belief and far worse than almost any I have ever seen. I pray the best for all who live in those parts and for the survivors a quick recovery. I hope all who lost a loved one will be found in the company of friends and comforted.

OF SNAKES AND EARTHQUAKES:
Of all the snakes in the world some of my personal favorites come from south east Asia. From the bloods of Sumatra to the many Chondros of the Indonesian Isles, south east Asia is home to many rare and prized animals. Now the waves crash down. What is left? What is affected? What isn’t? If anyone is an expert in this field speak up and let everyone know what snakes have been severely affected. One thing that is in the back of many peoples minds is, “have any species been driven to extinction from this?”. What endangered animals have we lost? This is truly a historical an horrible tragedy. As people slowly return to their former way of life, deforestation will take place to rebuild the lost homes. The already ailing Coral of Maldives is all but ruined and now poverty will cause many to commit ecological crimes. We can expect record poaching out of shear desperation in the months ahead. File and wart snakes will be harvested in record numbers to supply food. No large rock or retic will be safe. Any valuable industry left will be in overdrive trying to repair these nine nations economies. We can expect this, and we know this is bad for the reptiles of these areas. We need survey teams to reassess the status of animals populations. Unfortunately I fear the resources needed to survey such a large area of land will be near impossible, and totally necessary. Will CITES move quick enough to protect what has been damaged? I hope so, but I truly doubt it. If animals where not killed in the flooding and the quakes (which many were) you can be sure they will be in the name of recovery. Yes recovery is important, but what will the ecological sacrifice be.
-----
2.2 Malaysian Blood Python
1.2 Borneo Black Blood Pythons
1.2 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.2 Pastel Red Tail Boas
2.4 Ball Python
1.0 Albino Retic
0.1 Tiger Retic
0.1 Albino Burmese Python
1.1 Calibar Python
1.0 Macklotts Python
1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.2 Kenyan Sand Boa
0.0.1 Kirklands Water Snake
0.0.1 Florida Banded Water Snake
0.0.1 Costa Rican Parrot Snake
0.0.2 Desert Night Snake
0.0.1 Oreintal Whip Snake
0.0.2 Western Shovel Nose snake
0.0.1 Mendota King Snake
0.0.1 Mohave Side Winder
0.1 Neon Cape Gopher
1.0 Thia Beauty Snake
0.0.1 Trans Pecos Rat Snake
2.4 Albino Natida King
1.2 Albino Conjuncta King
1.2 Desert Banded Gecko
1.1 Central American Banded Gecko
1.1 Tibetan Frog Eye Gecko
1.1 Dwarf Dune Gecko

One of the primary concerns regarding such incidents is the contamination of surface fresh water sources, which most wildlife depend upon for survival, by sea water.
Sea water contamination of surface fresh water sources, due to a hurricane, is believed to be what extirpated D. couperi (Eastern Indigo snake) from St. Vincent Island, in Florida.
Such problems have been brought up many times, regarding the survival of island species, should a natural disaster strike.
The earthquakes in the Solomon Island back in 2002 were a major influence upon the appointment of appendix I and II protective measures enacted by CITES regarding species indigenous to the Island, as many of you will recall the listing of Corucia zebrata (prehensile-tail skinks) during that period.
This is also a grave concern all of the Cyclura spp. iguanids, indigenous to the Islands of the West Indies, face every hurricane season.
I am certain you will find a great deal of data to this regard, should you take the time and research some of the IUCN sites..

Best regards,

Jeff

I thought of this same thing and am interested as well. I would imagine snakes would fare better than humans, because it's hard to drown a snake. They can cling to any debris or climb trees. Not sure how lizards and amphibians would do, the latter because of salt water. But most coastal areas (besides small islands) in that part of the world are pretty heavily populated by humans, so most of the herptofauna left would probably be farther inland and less affected. I am more concerned about the survivors now cutting down lots of reamining forests and eating bush meat (monkeys, reptiles, rare birds) just to survive. Not that I can blame them. Let's hope donations from generous countries and individuals can prevent at least some of this.

the worst disaster in at least a century when all is said and done. When you count the damage to the wildlife, the damage to the ecology, the loss of livestock and crops, and the loss of human life and property (body count is at 120,000 as I write this) I can't think of another disaster that compares. I can't even begin to describe how this makes me feel.
-----
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

This may be well off base, and by no means do I intend for this to sound coarse considering the extreme loss of life, but I don't think an act of nature will effect the herp populations at all. These creatures have remained fairly unevolved for centuries, so it's hard to imagine that this is the first natural disaster to have befallen them. In fact, this may well be a boon to their populations, as surely only the weak would have perished.
This is just speculation on my part, based on the Darwin I've read.
Cheers!

Would have to disagree. Darwin did indicate survival of the fitest, but this does go beyond basic survival threats. What is likely is that certain species (particularly on the islands) that are endemic and terrestrial, or of fossorial nature have been dealt a severe blow. It is possible for some rare species to have achieved extinction from this.

It calls to mind the Krackatoa eruption in 1883 which caused thousands to die from tsunamis in nearby Java.

Many species recolonised the area eventually.

CITIES is limited in it's capacity to protect. I'm afraid if the people cannot sell herps to buy food they might just go ahead and eat them as many see them as a food supply anyway.

Frank
-----
"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."