Pet snakes illegally marketed in Brazil: Climatic viability and establishment risk

Abstract

Invasive species are one among many threats to biodiversity. Brazil has been spared, generically, of several destructive invasive species. Reports of invasive snakes’ populations are nonexistent, but the illegal pet trade might change this scenario. Despite the Brazilian laws forbid to import most animals, illegal trade is frequently observed and propagules are found in the wild. The high species richness within Brazilian biomes and accelerated fragmentation of natural reserves are a critical factors facilitating successful invasion. An efficient way to ease damages caused by invasive species is identifying potential invaders and consequent prevention of introductions. For the identification of potential invaders many factors need to be considered, including estimates of climate matching between areas (native vs. invaded). Ecological niche modelling has been widely used to predict potential areas for invasion and is an important tool for conservation biology. This study evaluates the potential geographical distribution and establishment risk of Lampropeltis getula (Linnaeus, 1766), Lampropeltis triangulum (Lacépède, 1789), Pantherophis guttatus (Linnaeus, 1766), Python bivittatus Kuhl, 1820 and Python regius (Shaw, 1802) through the Maximum Entropy modelling approach to estimate the potential distribution of the species within Brazil and qualitative evaluation of specific biological attributes. Our results suggest that the North and Midwest regions harbor major suitable areas. Furthermore, P. bivittatus and P. guttatus were suggested to have the highest invasive potential among the analyzed species. Potentially suitable areas for these species were predicted within areas which are highly relevant for Brazilian biodiversity, including several conservation units. Therefore, these areas require special attention and preventive measures should be adopted.

Environmental drivers of tropical forest snake phenology: Insights from citizen science

“…It also deserves noting the records of two non‐venomous snakes introduced by the pet trade: the corn snake ( Pantherophis guttatus ) and the red‐tailed boa ( Boa constrictor ), widely offered illegally on the internet (Nehemy et al, 2022 ). Records of free‐ranging P. guttatus (native from North America) are increasing (Fonseca et al, 2019 ), with high probability of becoming an invasive species in the Atlantic Forest (Fonseca et al, 2017 ). Boa constrictor , despite being a native species in Brazil, is not considered native to Viçosa and neighboring cities (Costa et al, 2010 ; Moura et al, 2012 ), so it could represent a threat to some of the native fauna in the region through competition or predation interactions.…”

Invasive Amphibians and Reptiles Living in Brazil

“…Most alien amphibian and reptiles in Brazil are kept as pets (see Fonseca et al, 2019); that is, they have already crossed the geographical barrier and have thus passed the first stage to becoming invasive (Blackburn et al, 2011). Furthermore, some of these species have been identified as having high potential to invade Brazilian ecosystems (Fonseca et al, 2017). Alien species are imported and bred with few regulations and monitoring in Brazil and are sold as pets in stores, on internet sites, and through social connections with virtually no legal control.…”

Introduction pathways and socio‐economic variables drive the distribution of alien amphibians and reptiles in a megadiverse country

“…Although there is no evidence that there is an invasion of Pantherophis guttatus in progress, we believe that it is only a matter of time. Besides being the most common illegally traded species in the country (Magalhães & São-Pedro, 2012), Pantherophis guttatus has a high probability of establishment in Brazil (Fonseca et al, 2014;Fonseca, Solé, Rödder, & de Marco, 2017). Of particular concern is the commercialization of venomous alien species as pets, which represents a risk to public health (Minton, 1996;Schaper et al, 2009).…”