"No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced." ~ Sir David Attenborough
USFWS to downgrade status of C. granti from Endangered to Threatened
UPDATE: Comments have been closed; now we wait for a decision based on your feedback.
Per the USFWS: This proposal is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the species’ status has improved such that it is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. We are also proposing a rule under the authority of section 4(d) of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the Virgin Islands boa. Further, we are correcting the List to change the scientific name of the Virgin Islands boa in the List from Epicrates monensis granti to Chilabothrus granti to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy.
This was posted on 30 September and your opportunity to comment closes on 30 November, 2020. See the Federal Register Posting here.
“Quote of the Month”
Written in 1985
Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?
Mr. James Peters, after spending several months in the Virgin Islands region in 1917, returned with rather unfortunate news of the bank. He reported the fauna was, sadly, “depleted and fast disappearing” . Schwartz and Henderson in 1975 were of the hope that the future survival of the West Indian Herpetofauna was brighter than it indicated at the time . Powell & Henderson highlighted the plight of the West Indian herpetofauna in 2008 . Daudin & De Silva (2011) remarked, “The general situation is so desperate that even the most deliberate conservation efforts will probably amount to salvage operations” .
“If we continue down that path”, has become, “Because we continued down that path.” A decade later it appears we are reaching the point of no return. The billions of dollars flooding into the Caribbean for myriad purposes are paving it end-to-end. Surely not, you say? Well, let’s take a trip down memory deforestation lane, shall we? Continue reading Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?
Lingering questions
While reading, or in some cases re-reading, material it became apparent to us there are several specific islands in various publications as having an, as of yet, unidentified boa as an inhabitant. Are they range extensions of known boas, new subspecies or species? Here are the candidates as written about in the literature:
Continue reading Lingering questions
A new Cuban Tropidophis species – good end to a long journey
Cuba has the highest diversity of snakes in the genus Tropidophis, representing 53 % of all the known species. Continue reading A new Cuban Tropidophis species – good end to a long journey
Distribution of West Indian Boas
Pictured below is a complete map of the West Indies. The map shows all boa species and subspecies occurring naturally in this Ecoregion. Each flag represents a single species or subspecies and the location of the flag represents the type location as originally described. Click on a flag to see the species occurring there and and then on the link to get to the species account.
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