IUCN SSC Viper Specialist Group
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IUCN SSC
Viper
Specialist Group
2018 Report
Chris Jenkins José Jesús Sigala-Rodríguez
Co-Chairs Mission statement Research activities: (1) identify priority sites for
Chris Jenkins (1) The Viper Specialist Group (VSG) is a platform the conservation of vipers; (2) identify Black-
José Jesús Sigala-Rodríguez (2) from which conservation biologists can work headed Bushmaster (Lachesis melanocephala)
to increase our scientific understanding of distribution in relation to human presence; (3)
Red List Authority Coordinator viper biology and can implement conservation promote the creation of areas for the conser-
actions to prevent declines and extinctions. vation of vipers in each region; (4) update the
Johanes Penner (3)
distribution maps for vipers in the Western
Hemisphere; (5) obtain missing ecological
Location/Affiliation Projected impact for the 2017-2020
information for poorly known viper species
(1) Orianne Society, Tiger, Georgia, US quadrennium
in Mesoamerica; (6) project the impact of
(2) Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, By the end of 2020, we will have strengthened climate change on selected species of vipers in
Aguascalientes, Mexico the organisation and effectiveness of the Viper Mesoamerica.
(3) University of Freiburg, Germany Specialist Group in order to have a more mean-
Plan
ingful impact on the conservation of vipers
Number of members Planning: (1) define regional priority species for
globally. We will do that by supporting the indi-
European and North Asian vipers; (2) develop a
172 vidual activities of the members, increasing
Viper Action Plan with specific actionable items;
the membership, repositioning the VSG offi-
(3) complete and publish the VSG Strategic Plan;
Social networks cers, continuing to publish the VSG newsletter,
(4) complete conservation action plans for at
Facebook: launching a new website, reactivating the pres-
least 50% of VSG regions.
Viper Specialist Group ence of the VSG in social media, continuing to
support Red List assessment activities, partic- Policy: (1) support the proposal to include
ipating more in academic meetings to network the Spider-Tail Viper (Pseudocerastes
with academic institutions, zoos, NGOs and urarachnoides) in CITES Appendices in Iran;
other actors interested in the conservation of (2) support the in-country Memorandum of
vipers, continuing to explore the possibilities to Understanding regarding the harvesting of
purchase land for the conservation of vipers, vipers in Iran.
and publishing scientific and divulgative work Act
done on vipers, among other things. Conservation activities: define regional priority
species for European and North Asian vipers.
Targets for the 2017-2020 quadrennium
Network
Assess Document review: identify knowledge gaps in
Red List: (1) complete Red List assessments species assessments.
for as many species of vipers in the world as Membership: increase representativeness in
possible; (2) complete assessments for Euro- membership.
pean and North Asian vipers; (3) consider the Synergy: develop effective partnerships
assessment of Montivipera kuhrangica (Kuhrang between zoos and the VSG.
Mountain Viper) for the IUCN Red List.
Communicate
Communication: (1) create a webpage about the
VSG with taxonomic updates to make this infor-
mation more widely available; (2) continue to
publish the Viper Specialist Group newsletter;
Thermal facial pit that gives name
to the “pit vipers” in a rattlesnake
Photo: Jesús Sigala
(3) restructure the editorial board of the news- ii. The members that were behind the assess- v. We selected two species from the several
letter; (4) create outreach materials that can be ment of Montivipera kuhrangica did not follow it that were potentially available from Meso-
customised by region for living with vipers; (5) through and we did not complete the evalua- america to project the impact of climate change
increase the efficiency and amount of internal tion. However, the species will be evaluated by and have nearly obtained the results of the
and external communication; (6) implement next year with all the other reptiles remaining to climate impact. We will use these species
subpages for each region in the VSG website. assess. (KSR #2) as pilots and, depending on the results, will
Scientific meetings: (1) determine how to Research activities continue with more species. (KSR #32)
develop and implement focal species initia- i. A map of updated Black-headed Bushmaster Plan
tives; (2) hold regular virtual meetings among distribution was generated. (KSR #12) Planning
the Regional Coordinators; (3) hold at least one ii. Following the success of 2018, when the i. We want to enlist the help of the membership
in-person meeting with most of the Regional Rainforest Trust provided some funding to the to define regional priority species for European
Coordinators in this quadrennium. Endangered Wildlife Trust for scoping a protected and North Asian vipers and generate a better
area for Bitis albanica (Albany Adder), we want to action plan. (KSR #15)
Activities and results 2018
encourage something similar for other regions. ii. The Deputy Chair has made advances with
Assess We have identified several areas in Mexico that the VSG Strategic Plan, and we are close to
Red List could serve for this purpose. (KSR #43) having a first draft for all the regions in the
i. Johannes Penner, our Red List Authority iii. We generated new maps for viper distribu- second semester of 2019. (KSR #31)
Coordinator, has been supporting Phil Bowles tion in the Western Hemisphere using the infor- iii. The Deputy Chair has made advances to
with all the questions and inquiries for vipers. mation obtained from visits to many Collec- complete and publish regional VSG Strategic
The assessments for all species are nearly tions in Mesoamerica and North America, and a Plans, which will contain action plans for the
completed; we plan to have them all on the Red few in South America, and from information in regions with better and more complete informa-
List by next year. (KSR #1) Collections databases available on the internet. tion. (KSR #31)
iv. We are still in the process of obtaining
ecological information for poorly known viper
species in Mesoamerica, and plan to have the
results published next year. (KSR #12)
Environmental authorities in rattlesnake
conservation study area in Mexico
Photo: Ernestina Meza-Rangel
Cerrophidion tzotzilorum, a Meso American
pitviper with a small distribution area
Photo: Jesús Sigala
Black-headed bushmaster,
Lachesis melanocephala, Costa Rica
Photo: Manuel Sánchez Mendoza
Network iii. The proposal to attempt to convert the Acknowledgements
Document review newsletter into a more formal publication outlet We have received economic support from
i. Marcio Martins, the South American Regional
(similar to a peer-reviewed journal), was not Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes
Coordinator, published a book about snakes received well by several Regional Coordinators, and Orianne Society and invaluable guidance
on islands and is preparing a publication about because of the increase in workload; however, and support from the IUCN Species Survival
conservation and ecology of viperid snakes on we agreed to discuss it further and decide once Commission, particularly Orlando Salamanca,
islands. This will be taken into account for the we restart the publication of our regular news- Bibiana Sucre and Jon Paul Rodriguez. Thanks
action plan for viperid snakes. letter. (KSR #28) also to The Wilds, University of Freiburg, Rain-
iv. We have not yet produced outreach mate- forest Alliance, University of Nis, San Diego
Synergy
rials that can be customized by region for living State University, Nanjing Forestry University,
i. Stephen Spear moved to The Wilds, securing
with vipers, but hope to make some advances Bangor University, Environmental Agency –
a way to develop more effective partnerships
by the end of 2019. (KSR #28) Abu Dhabi, University of the Western Cape and
with zoos.
v. Increasing the efficiency and amount of University of São Paulo.
Communicate
internal and external communication was
Communication partially achieved, as we have not yet changed Summary of activities 2018
i. We bought a domain, web hosting and web our communication channels or frequency of
constructing software with donated funds, Species Conservation Cycle ratio: 4/5
meetings. (KSR #28)
and created a new website for the group in Assess 7 |||||||
vi. We created subpages for each region on
the GoDaddy platform. However, we are in the the new VSG website (viperspecialistgroup. Plan 3 |||
midst of moving that platform to a new domain. org). However, we are moving that website Network 2 ||
(KSR #28) to another place and will restructure it as it Communicate 8 ||||||||
ii. There was no agreement on continuing the contained information that did not comply with Main KSRs addressed: 1, 2, 12, 15, 26, 28,
publication of the newsletter, but we will publish the personal data policies of IUCN. (KSR #28)
31, 32, 43
a newsletter in 2019 and decide if we want to Scientific meetings KSR: Key Species Result
continue working with the publication of the
i. We had two regular virtual meetings among
bulletin. (KSR #28)
the Regional Coordinators in 2018.
ii. We are considering having a face-to-face
meeting with most of the Regional Coordina-
tors in this quadrennium, either at the World
Congress of Herpetology in New Zealand in
2020 or in a country suggested by any Regional
Coordinator, based on availability of funds.
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