by Snakes4Africa » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:00 pm
This subject has been thrashed about before on this forum. Releasing snakes form a captive collection into the wild is not a good idea, how ever well-meaning it may be. I'm sure your intentions are good but the end result could be catastrophic if a disease gets out into the native population. Your collection includes exotic snakes and is in a state of constant flux due to new purchases and sales, as most of our collections are. As stated before, it is illegal in throughout most of South Africa to release snakes into the wild.
There will always be seasonal declines and explosions of certain populations and species in certain areas so don't believe that because you have noticed a drop in numbers that the end of a species is in sight. I have been responding to call-outs throughout Durban for longer than anyone currently doing it and can tell you that this true. "Herping" will yeild results different to my species count but will give you the same end results if done over a long enough period.
That being said, I applaud your efforts. The numbers that you are talking about are not really enough to make any substantial difference to populations one way or the other, as long as you are releasing the snakes in an area where they naturally occur, which I believe you are already doing. Just don't try to get permission or recognition from KZN Wildlife. They themselves do things that make us pull our hair out and wonder "what the hell!" but frown upon the public doing what you are doing.
My advice, continue doing what you are doind, do it under the radar and keep your exotic or permanent collection separate from the snakes planned for release. Furthermore, the keeping of snakes in a pit is fraught with potential disaster, so rather release them directly after their first shed.
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