TY - JOUR
T1 - Hits Close to Home
T2 - Repeated Persecution of King Cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) in Northeastern Thailand
AU - Marshall, Benjamin M.
AU - Strine, Colin T.
AU - Jones, Max D.
AU - Theodorou, Alexandros
AU - Amber, Evan
AU - Waengsothorn, Surachit
AU - Suwanwaree, Pongthep
AU - Goode, Matt
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Thailand for providing permission to work with the protected species king cobras, the National Research Council of Thailand for facilitating research permits for our non-Thai team members, and the Suranaree University of Technology Internal Ethics Council for supervising and approving our project. The questionnaire aspect of this study was completed in 2015, before new ethical approval and interview protocol requirements were introduced. The authors also thank the Sakaerat Environmental Research Station for logistic support and site access during the project. Furthermore, the authors express unyielding gratitude to the Institute of Animals Scientific Purpose Development for providing licenses to work with animals for Dr Colin Strine and Dr Pongthep Suwanwaree. In addition, the authors thank Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research; Dusit Zoo; Zoological Park Organization, Thailand; Wanlaya Tipkantha, DVM; and Pluemjit Boonpueng of Suranaree University of Technology for assisting with logistics. The authors ultimately thank the many interns that assisted during the project without which the project would not have been possible. The authors thank Prapasiri Sutthisom and Peerada Sudlapa for performing the anonymous interviews and providing the data to the research team, the local village of Udom Sap for allowing us to work within and around the agricultural areas of the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, and also all three reviewers for their time and input improving this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Protected areas are often promoted as an important solution to preserving biodiversity. However, permeable edges can undermine the effectiveness of preserves because animals may move into adjacent human-dominated unprotected areas. We investigated attitudes toward, and sources of mortality of, a far-ranging apex predator, the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah; Cantor 1836), in a biosphere reserve in northeastern Thailand. Our questionnaire revealed marked fear of snakes and hostility toward king cobras. Using radiotelemetry, we followed 23 king cobras over a 4-year period, during which time we documented the mortality of 14 individuals. We considered 10 of the deaths to be anthropogenic in origin, including road mortality, pollution, fish traps, and direct persecution; these deaths disproportionately occurred in unprotected areas. Our results highlight how dangerous human-dominated landscapes are for king cobras. Because king cobras move long distances and maintain large home ranges, it is likely that successful conservation of the species cannot be satisfactorily met by protected areas alone; a more holistic, education-focused conservation strategy is required. We stress the importance of a human dimensions approach that leads toward greater understanding of human attitudes toward king cobras, and snakes in general, combined with ecological research for more effective conservation.
AB - Protected areas are often promoted as an important solution to preserving biodiversity. However, permeable edges can undermine the effectiveness of preserves because animals may move into adjacent human-dominated unprotected areas. We investigated attitudes toward, and sources of mortality of, a far-ranging apex predator, the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah; Cantor 1836), in a biosphere reserve in northeastern Thailand. Our questionnaire revealed marked fear of snakes and hostility toward king cobras. Using radiotelemetry, we followed 23 king cobras over a 4-year period, during which time we documented the mortality of 14 individuals. We considered 10 of the deaths to be anthropogenic in origin, including road mortality, pollution, fish traps, and direct persecution; these deaths disproportionately occurred in unprotected areas. Our results highlight how dangerous human-dominated landscapes are for king cobras. Because king cobras move long distances and maintain large home ranges, it is likely that successful conservation of the species cannot be satisfactorily met by protected areas alone; a more holistic, education-focused conservation strategy is required. We stress the importance of a human dimensions approach that leads toward greater understanding of human attitudes toward king cobras, and snakes in general, combined with ecological research for more effective conservation.
KW - Thailand
KW - attitudes
KW - conservation
KW - elapid
KW - fear
KW - human dimensions
KW - mortality
KW - snake
KW - survival
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072735059&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85072735059&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1940082918818401
DO - 10.1177/1940082918818401
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85072735059
VL - 11
JO - Tropical Conservation Science
JF - Tropical Conservation Science
SN - 1940-0829
ER -