The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk

Globe Institute

The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk

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The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk. / Farooq, Harith; Geldmann, Jonas.

In: Conservation Letters, Vol. 17, No. 1, e12998, 2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Farooq, H & Geldmann, J 2024, 'The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk', Conservation Letters, vol. 17, no. 1, e12998. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12998

APA

Farooq, H., & Geldmann, J. (2024). The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk. Conservation Letters, 17(1), [e12998]. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12998

Vancouver

Farooq H, Geldmann J. The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk. Conservation Letters. 2024;17(1). e12998. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12998

Author

Farooq, Harith ; Geldmann, Jonas. / The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk. In: Conservation Letters. 2024 ; Vol. 17, No. 1.

Bibtex

@article{6853d216e3204e3fa41de2bdc72e18b3,

title = "The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk",

abstract = "Snakes in Africa are responsible for over 20,000 deaths annually, their indiscriminate killing. As a result, snakes are vulnerable to human population increases even at low intensities. Thus, the predicted doubling of Africa's population by 2050 is likely to pose a disproportionate threat to snakes compared to other taxa. Here we quantify the current and future overlap of snake distributions and human population density under three scenarios of population growth. We find that by 2050, on average, 71% of snake ranges of conservation concern will overlap with areas occupied by ten or more people per km2, a 22% increase from 2020. In addition, the number of Least Concern species with most of their range within areas with high human population density will more than double, likely increasing the number of threatened species over the next decades. Our results call for immediate policy action targeting people's perceptions and fears of snakes, and incorporating snakes directly into development and conservation plans to reduce the impact of future urban expansions across Africa.",

keywords = "biodiversity threats, conservation, human population increase, human–snake conflict, human–wildlife conflict, reptiles, snake phobia, socioeconomic pathways, wildlife conflict",

author = "Harith Farooq and Jonas Geldmann",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1111/conl.12998",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "Conservation Letters",

issn = "1755-263X",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The fear factor — Snakes in Africa might be at an alarming extinction risk

AU - Farooq, Harith

AU - Geldmann, Jonas

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Snakes in Africa are responsible for over 20,000 deaths annually, their indiscriminate killing. As a result, snakes are vulnerable to human population increases even at low intensities. Thus, the predicted doubling of Africa's population by 2050 is likely to pose a disproportionate threat to snakes compared to other taxa. Here we quantify the current and future overlap of snake distributions and human population density under three scenarios of population growth. We find that by 2050, on average, 71% of snake ranges of conservation concern will overlap with areas occupied by ten or more people per km2, a 22% increase from 2020. In addition, the number of Least Concern species with most of their range within areas with high human population density will more than double, likely increasing the number of threatened species over the next decades. Our results call for immediate policy action targeting people's perceptions and fears of snakes, and incorporating snakes directly into development and conservation plans to reduce the impact of future urban expansions across Africa.

AB - Snakes in Africa are responsible for over 20,000 deaths annually, their indiscriminate killing. As a result, snakes are vulnerable to human population increases even at low intensities. Thus, the predicted doubling of Africa's population by 2050 is likely to pose a disproportionate threat to snakes compared to other taxa. Here we quantify the current and future overlap of snake distributions and human population density under three scenarios of population growth. We find that by 2050, on average, 71% of snake ranges of conservation concern will overlap with areas occupied by ten or more people per km2, a 22% increase from 2020. In addition, the number of Least Concern species with most of their range within areas with high human population density will more than double, likely increasing the number of threatened species over the next decades. Our results call for immediate policy action targeting people's perceptions and fears of snakes, and incorporating snakes directly into development and conservation plans to reduce the impact of future urban expansions across Africa.

KW - biodiversity threats

KW - conservation

KW - human population increase

KW - human–snake conflict

KW - human–wildlife conflict

KW - reptiles

KW - snake phobia

KW - socioeconomic pathways

KW - wildlife conflict

U2 - 10.1111/conl.12998

DO - 10.1111/conl.12998

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85180880604

VL - 17

JO - Conservation Letters

JF - Conservation Letters

SN - 1755-263X

IS - 1

M1 - e12998

ER -

ID: 379032245