Conservation Activities for Mountain Viper, Montivipera albizona (Nilson, Andrén and Flärdh, 1990) in Anatolia, Turkey

• Main Authors: Kerim Çiçek, Murat Afsar, Efkan Bağda, Cemal Varol Tok
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Union of Scientists in Bulgaria 2018-12-01
• Series: Ecologia Balkanica
• Subjects: Mountain viper; biology; conservation; reptiles; research; Anatolia
• Online Access: http://web.uni-plovdiv.bg/mollov/EB/2018_vol10_iss2/027-040_eb.18144.pdf

The Mountain viper, Montivipera albizona, is an endemic to Anatolia and distributes in Anatolian Diagonal, Anti-Taurus Mountains and Amanos Mountains. Unfortunately, the species faced serious threats within narrow distribution range. Here, we evaluated the present status and main threats of the Mountain viper by 60-days intensive fieldwork and interviews with locals. According to our data, the Mountain viper prefers the rocky and those mountainous and rugged areas covered with less vegetation and they are active from the beginning of April to end of November. In spring, it is possible to observe 1 to 5 individuals in the suitable habitats depending on its density. We prepared 5-year Action Plan for Turkish General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks and planned the roadmap for sustainability of the species with participation of regional administration, NGOs, and locals. We found that agricultural activities, overgrazing, road constructions, quarries, pet trade, sportive hunting, deliberate or accidental killing, and climatic change are the main threats on the Mountain viper in Anatolia. The main conservation measures include: creating some protected habitats in the high viper density regions, long-term monitoring survey to obtain data on its ecology and population trends, education and awareness raising activities among locals to prevent illegal collection/killing of the vipers.