Photo above: The wild and remote beaches of Tanjung Datu National Park in Malaysia, a two hour drive from Kuching.

I had the great fortune of attending the World Congress of Herpetology in Kuching, Malaysia this past August. This was the second World Congress that I’ve attended (I was also in Dunedin, New Zealand in Jan. 2020), and I must say I just love these conferences! The WCH is such a great opportunity to connect with herpetologists from around the world, share ideas, have great discussions, and explore new landscapes.  At WCH 2024, in addition to presenting the results of my PhD research, I also took the initiative to organize my first academic symposium.

The symposium was titled “Improving conservation and mitigation outcomes of snake translocations – Global lessons”. The aim of the symposium was to gather leading snake translocation researchers from around the world in the spirit of sharing knowledge and advancing the science of snake reintroduction biology. Many past snake translocations have been negatively affected by short-term increases in mortality or dispersal after translocation, thus there is still much to learn on our collective journey to improve the outcomes of snake translocations. Having recently published a systematic review of the global snake translocation literature, wherein my co-authors and I identified 8 tactics that were associated with positive snake translocation outcomes (read more here), I was especially curious to hear the results of my co-presenters’ work.

The symposium was a great success, with a “standing room only” and > 65 delegates in attendance throughout its length. Seven speakers presented, representing 5 countries: Australia, Canada, England, Hungary, and the United States of America. Three presenters (including myself) summarized characteristics of snake translocations at the global or national scale, while the remainder focused on the results of species-specific studies. Snake species highlighted included: the Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis), the giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas), the Great Basin gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola), the western yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor Mormon), the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), and the Coastal Carpet Python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli). In addition to the seven symposium presentations, there were two other talks during the conference on snake translocations, both in the Australian context: one on the Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis) and a second talk on the coastal carpet python.

Delegates filled the room during the first global symposium on snake translocations, during the World Congress of Herpetology in Kuching, Malaysia in August 2024.

After the symposium, I conducted a quick and dirty survey of the 9 speakers who presented on snake translocations at the WCH, in an attempt to summarize some of the overarching themes present across the presentations, and to determine if any specific translocation tactics were prevalent. The major themes apparent in over half of the talks were: translocations of wild-caught snakes, translocations of adult snakes (or adult-biased groups of snakes), conducting “hard” releases, translocating snakes for mitigation purposes (e.g., in response to human-snake conflict), and the use of radiotelemetry to monitor snakes post-release. Hosting this symposium on snake translocations was one of my WCH highlights, and I owe a special thank you to the Carl Gans Foundation for its generous support.

Jonathan D. Choquette, PhD, at the World Congress of Herpetology, held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Jonathan Choquette, PhD

Lead Biologist –  Ojibway Reptile Recovery Program

Based in Windsor, Ontario, Jon manages the Ojibway Reptile Recovery Program with the goal of recovering the population of eastern massasauga rattlesnakes there, while also helping other at-risk reptiles. His research interests include urban herpetology, human-snake conflict, and conservation biology.

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