Matilda's horned viper. Photo by: Tim Davenport

New large horned viper discovered, but biologists keep location quiet
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
December 15, 2011

In a remote forest fragment in Tanzania, scientists have made a remarkable discovery: a uniquely-colored horned viper extending over two feet long (643 millimeters) that evolved from its closest relative over two million years ago. Unfortunately, however, the new species—named Matilda's horned viper (Atheris matildae)—survives in a small degraded habitat and is believed to be Critically Endangered. Given its scarcity, its discoverers are working to preempt an insidious threat to the new species.

Scientists love nothing more than finding unknown animals, but the public announcement has sometimes been the beginning of the species' undoing, especially in the case of reptiles and amphibians. Hotly pursued by the black market pet trade, in the past new species have been helplessly decimated by collectors shortly after their scientific description is published. As such, Matilda's horned viper's discoverers are not only keeping the snake's location a closely-guarded secret, but have already set up an emergency conservation program. They won't let this species vanish without a fight.

"The global trade in wildlife is huge, and a very significant part of that is the illegal trade in wild-caught amphibians and reptiles, for the pet trade. Snakes are particularly popular and a new snake arouses considerable interest," Tim Davenport with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) explained to mongabay.com. "Our concern is that a sudden rush to collect this new snake from such a small forest would at best be unsustainable, and at worst have a major detrimental impact on the species' survival. Illegal collection for the pet trade is a huge problem in Tanzania due in part to the high number of attractive and endemic species."

To keep the new species safe, researchers collected eleven snakes for a captive breeding program: four males, five females, and two juveniles. The offspring of these snakes are meant to be an insurance against extinction. Along with keeping its exact location in the wild quiet, the conservationists are also going one step further to anticipate the illegal pet trade.

"We are planning to make available the first few dozen offspring from the captive population free of charge, in order to provide the market with captive-bred specimens of the new species. The aim is to avoid collection of wild caught specimens, lower the price of the animal and encourage responsible captive breeding by keepers in the most highly demanding countries," explains Davenport. "The ultimate goal is also to raise awareness and support for a community-based forest conservation program. Matilda’s horned viper will, it is hoped, be a flagship species for this initiative."

Their caution is not an overreaction. The researcher argue the species should be listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List given its tiny range: after extensive surveys the team believes the snake survives in an area smaller than 100 square kilometers.

"In addition, the habitat quality is in decline," Davenport adds.

Matilda's horned viper's closest relative is the forest horned viper (Atheris ceratophora), but Matilda's is larger, sports different coloration, and has a unique scale pattern on its head (see more photos below). Genetic testing shows the snakes to be separated by 2.2 million years.

"We would like this discovery to contribute to the conservation of the species and its habitat, not to a more rapid demise of the species in the wild," Davenport says. He and his colleagues also recommend other researchers follow similar paths in announcing new species.

"All three of us [Davenport, Michele Menegon, and Kim Howell] have described new species only to see these same species being illegally and unsustainably harvested just months later. We are not objecting to the pet trade, but we do believe that in most cases there is no justification at all for wild caught animals being collected. The problem is exacerbated by the huge numbers collected from the wild, only a small fraction of which live to reach their ultimate destination. There needs to be far tighter management of the pet trade or else many species will simply be extirpated in the wild by the trade."

Matilda's horned viper received its name from a five-year-old girl, Davenport's daughter.

"When we first discovered the snake, we kept one securely in a tank outside the office while we studied it. My daughter, then five years old, was fascinated and always insisted on helping us feed it and look after it. It became known as Matilda's viper and the name stuck. We simply added the 'horned' later. She is very pleased but of course her younger sister wants a species now too! We will see what we can do..."

For more information on the discovery: Matilda's horned viper.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1215-hanc ... z1ggUEOVhc

Sweet looking snake, I like their proactive approach in handling the conservation side.

What a discovery! Atheris are my favorite. I also like their proactive protection from poachers. Does anyone know of specific examples of species collected to extinction in the wild following their description?

excellent!

I like the 'keeping the locality a secret' approach as well. Look at the Mangshan... newest, rarest viper around... yet I see one at the Anaheim Show... and Crutchfield's breeding them jim

Oh yeah... saw something on Yahoo News (?) bout a new 'Rainbow Gecko' from the phillipines???

Somethings never change.

I'm very interested in the followup to see how their plan pans out re: providing free CB specimens for the pet trade. I had a similar idea in that species currently considered "threatened" or "endangered" SHOULD be allowed to be bred in captivity...if the problem is "not enough specimens" you'd think making MORE of them would be okay.

Initiate price controls on offspring (fixed price or free) which means the people going through the trouble of breeding them aren't being incentivized by the ability to turn a buck, but because they have a passion for the animals. This may be heresy, but *gasp* put a large organization (USARK?) in charge of monitoring/policing the program so it doesn't cost the taxpayers/cash-strapped wildlife agencies to do so.

More animals, more people exposed to them, more people learn of their plight in the wild, more habitat preserved. Perhaps.

Keep it secret, keep it safe!

Thanks for sharing this, always cool to hear about new finds!

The usual defense. In reality many more specimens are killed or die when commercial collectors show up. (Perhaps if it was limited to certain zoos it might be an argument, but even then I doubt it.) The real key is simply preserving the habitat, such habitat is obviously already remote and limited. That last thing this snake or the other wildlife in the area needs is a bunch of collectors intruding into the area. Suddenly the locals have an economic incentive to destroy rather than preserve, exactly the WRONG message to send to nations that are just now starting to see the value in their wildlife resources.

When will the herp world learn that catering to collectors with wild caught critters is not beneficial. Just because it exists does not mean someone needs to own it.

How would you have played this differently?

One US collector already claims to have Matilda's Horned Vipers. According to him "They've been here since 2008 or longer."

Yeah... I often get the feeling that a certain number of breeders are like the 'behind the scenes' Multi-National Corps, that do whatever necessary to make the most $ (legal or not) and the rest of the herping world are their 'sheeple'... planning the 'next big thing' well in advance of public acknowledgments... jim

Well it's not just $$$, there is the 'collector mentality' that drives much of the reptile business, a mentality that put's one self before the species no matter how much self denial, deflection and excuses are presented. This mentality creates the demand and thus the profit.


How would I have played this differently Rob? I don't think there is a better way to play it on the surface, as long as the discovery announcement to the world was delayed until the governments in question had time to put specific protections in place. Sadly these efforts are hardly watertight in the best of situations. But if the local government places immediate protections in place, and the usual suspect importing nations take proactive actions it's perhaps the best scenario. The free offspring plan is indeed a novel approach though. To my mind illegal, harmful personal collecting or keeping is at least somewhat akin to the drug trade. As long as WE create a market it will continue. Quite a bit of self reflection as a community is ongoing and certainly required. Respected, conservation minded opinion makers need to get a coordinated message out in an effort to isolate this shameful part of the herp community. The community needs to mature in it's outlook and learn to appreciate nature without having to posses it . Obviously we are fighting prevailing cultural norms and human nature to a great extent, which can only be dealt with via paradigm changes. Simply doing one's best to 'do no harm' is good start, and I get the feeling that the community on this forum is much more in tune with this thinking than any other I know of.

The BEST and by far the ONLY sustainable solution to protect any species is to protect it's habitat, that said those efforts go for naught when illegal poaching hurts already tiny populations.

Amazing viper pic, wish I could own one..

Whew, quite the loaded statement. I reckon such opinion runs counter to a lot of folks' "progression" in their herping hobby and dare I say "having to possess it" may be a useful step in said progression to what you consider a more "enlightened" state.

To better understand your worldview, are you against keeping ANY herp, regardless of abundance (either wild abundance or abundance in the trade)?

Not at all. Keeping common species helps us understand and also brings pleasure. My issue is with the folks that want to possess the newest, rarest and prettiest and put their wants and egos over the good of species. It is my opinion, but I feel that most would agree that just because science finds a new 'cool' species there should not be a mad rush to capture it for the commercial trade. We have been down that road. I also think the paradigm IS being changed thus the collective maturity. Maturity is not a loaded word if one realizes it has many connotations, as in it's use concerning group norms and dynamics, which is how I used it in this case. I don't think I mentioned anything about an 'enlightened' state, just putting the species as whole first.

I agree with Bob, and think the maturity he speaks of, is when we become less concerned with the extrinsic value of herps, and begin to appreciate them for their intrinsic value.

I've read some great stories of former 'collect-sell/eat' groups of people discovering that preserving wildlife and running 'eco-tours' is in fact more profitable than what they were doing, and sustainable. Shame something like that couldn't be done for rare herp species... but folks would have to settle of a pic rather than the herp itself. Maybe one day... jim

Perhaps I need to clarify. Let's say a founder population is used to discover species X (not necessarily the one from the article) adapts to captivity readily and breeds prolifically. Does this change the perspective at all? Should people not be allowed to keep them if they want, given that situation? What if the species isn't a "new, exotic, exciting, attractive" one but a plain species not of interest to the general keeper community, but one person finds it fascinating and worthy of further study?

Maybe being able to wake up and observe the animal daily and perhaps learn more about it and spark a lifelong interest in appreciation/conservation is sufficient "intrinsic value?"

Or is it a case similar to Professor Frink not letting a child play with a bubble mower because "you won't enjoy it on as many levels as I do?"

Chris, I think 'locality rosys' suit your example well... when a 'new locality' is introduced, people do flock to the area to try to get a pair. I believe that captive bred production lessens collection pressures and habitat degradation... so yeah... perfectly fine.
Let's (just for fun) extend the principle... What if it were legal to breed ANY herp? jim

Bob Wrote:



You can not change this mentality no matter HOW hard you try, therefore steps must be taken to relieve pressures to the herps from that side of the fence. I thought they handled it as well as anyone could have.

Producing captives will HELP tremendously with demand.

Fundad

Certainly it could, and that is why they are taking the novel step of trying to take the profit out of the illegal trade. Certainly the folks making this discovery have taken this step because they know that by announcing the new species they could also be dooming it. Obviously a captive breeding program will take the pressure off the native populations, but that could take time and who knows how much damage is being done right now because the demand will be there. As I said, my problem is with those that put a species under pressure for their own selfish reasons. You have to admit that there are plenty of folks that will be or are buying or even collecting this viper as we speak. You can't stop the smuggling just on the source end of things. That is what the war on drugs has been trying to do for all these wasted years. When talking about snakes, imagine how many die for each one that makes it.

As for changing the mentality, it certainly can be done over time. Just one example (those 50 plus certainly can relate) is how we changed simple littering. In the 50's and 60's many decent folks chucked trash out the window of the car. In the early 70's we started a massive campaign to change this behavior and it has worked in that now people that litter are looked on as scumbags. Paradigms certainly can be changed, by the very definition of the word. I'd argue that the reptile industry has been in the process of making such changes over the last couple decades, just that in my opinion it needs to keep evolving to where the emphasis is on the good of the species. But everyone has his own way of looking at this.

Jim, eco-tourism angle is interesting and is being developed by some guys I know in India. They are trained naturalists starting businesses aimed at herping in areas in certain forest preserves. Hiring locals to act as drivers and guides is a key element. I'm awaiting a visa to go have a look at their programs in Feb as part of a habitat preservation group I work with. Inshallah...

.

You might be confusing your religious centers...do you perhaps mean Pakistan?

I think eco-tourism is a great idea; one thing I think is a "con" is that we're setting countries up to rely on a concept of "you can't use your land how YOU see fit; it needs to be set aside as pretty places for First Worlders to visit, and if/when their economy tanks, so do their visits and money."

Don't get me wrong; habitat preservation and wild-population conservation is where it's at; and I think we should foster more of that in "closer-to-home" places as well.

Namaste!

The efforts I'm talking about in India are driven by Indians with relatively little funding or input from the outside. There is no need, these guys really know their shit and and are dedicated to their passion. It is hardly a macro economic driver, more a way for trained naturalists to make a living doing what they love, help the herps while helping locals place value on the resources. In truth, other than making commercial harvest of reptiles illegal, most of the conservation efforts are as a side to preserving sexy critter habitat. But that all good. Most of visitors are Indians. You should see the vast numbers of people that visit the national parks each day in mini van safaris. Much of the preserved habitat is in danger of being 'loved to death' thus it is very difficult to venture anywhere in NP's like we do here. The level of environmental awareness is growing quickly there. Massive moves have been made toward preserving the remaining wild places which have resulted in significant rises in wildlife populations in many areas. Under reported in the West at least where conservation groups seem not to want to report successes for fear that funding dries up. That said there certainly is a long way to go.

I just happened to grow up there for much of my youth and tend to support efforts there. I don't want to leave the impression I have any on the ground role in those efforts, but I do support the folks efforts and want to experience what they are trying to do.



As for Inshallaha, not at all! Islam is widespread throughout India...as is Christianity and even Judaism to some extent.

Very interesting point!



Even more so when India's territory included Pakistan!