The researchers of the Delhi University have now added eight new species to the list of snakes of the national capital. These species have been added to the list after an extensive five-year study. With this, the number of snake species recorded in the capital has now touched 23. Hence, this has now updated the 1997 list mentioned in the book ‘Fauna of Delhi’. Also, this ‘Fauna of Delhi’ book is widely used in tracking Delhi’s native species.
A researcher from the Department of Environmental Studies (Delhi University) Gaurav Barhadiya, who conducted this study, shared this information.
A total of 329 snakes have been recorded in the study and these are in and nine families. Also, the following are the new additions to the list:
- common bronze back tree snake,
- common trinket snake,
- common cat snake,
- barred wolf snake,
- common kukri,
- streaked kukri,
- common sand boa and
- saw-scaled viper
The American Journal “Reptiles and Amphibians” published this research. The research covered all the 11 districts within Delhi through 376 field surveys in various urban forests, parks, farms, vacant plots, private gardens, lakes, and water bodies. The research was conducted between January 2016 and October 2020. These findings were made public in April 2021.
Several data collection techniques were included in this study. Namely, those techniques are nocturnal road cruising, pitfall traps, opportunistic encounters, and road kills encounters. Researchers have also borrowed secondary information on snake rescue from NGOs like the Fauna Foundation of India and the Wildlife Trust of India.
Professor Dr. Chirashree Ghosh from the Department of Environmental Studies supervised the research. He called the documentation of urban biodiversity an urgent requirement because the generated data and latest statistics on urban floral and faunal biodiversity have not been compiled and documented properly.
She referred to rapid urbanization causing a heavy impact on the animal and reptilian population, including snakes as well.
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As Delhi comprises the last spurs of ancient Aravalli mountains in the form of a ridge, therefore, it is an important site for conservation. These last spurs of ancient Aravalli mountains are now in either the form of urban forests or urban parks. So, it experiences regular snake occurrences in and around houses, gardens, and industrial areas.
As snakes in Delhi have never received priority in comparison to the other groups like mammals and avian diversity, therefore no significant studies were published in the capital so far.
