Trip Reports
2007
Taken from the Autumn 2007 edition of "ARGtoday", the newsletter of the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the United Kingdom.
Conserving the Hungarian Meadow Viper
Jan Clemons, Chair of ARG UK
.....................................................
The Meadow Viper (Vipera ursinii) is Hungary's most endangered vertebrate with perhaps only 500 individuals left within 11 small, isolated populations. Its decline is mainly due to habitat loss for cultivating crops and rearing livestock. Its critical situation is recognised both nationally and internationally under the Berne Convention, Appendix 11, IUCN 'threatened' status and it is also listed in CITES Anex 1.
This summer I visited the Hungarian meadow viper conservation centre in Kiskunsag National Park, Hungary and would like to share a success story with you. The centre is not open to the public but with the help of Mátra Wildlife Tours I met the Director Tamas Pechy and his team at the centre.
The main goal of the Centre is to breed vipers from small, genetically homogenous populations to increase the overall genetic diversity and release them back into the wild. The Centre is 50:50 funded by the Hungarian government and the EU Life Fund. We were shown the large outdoor vivaria where the vipers live and breed. Each vivarium contains a network of uniquely designed ceramic hibernacula tubes. This enbles the team to 'spy' on their guests during hibernation using an endoscope attached to a camera. We watched a video and were amazed to see lizards and newts sharing the hibernaculum with the vipers, which were frequently seen flicking their tongues.
The Centre started with 10 vipers and now has over 105 individuals (including 40 females). The females are moved indoors prior to giving birth to 6-17 babies. A viper birth had been filmed showing the babies born in a membranous sac. They are not hibernated during the first year in order to put on weight ready for introduction. Meticulous records are kept including DNA fingerprinting to confirm paternity.
The Centre is also carrying out adjacent grassland habitat restoration in the National Park to receive the captive bred vipers and is working closely with local farmers and the wider community to raise the conservation status of this very attractive viper.
Tamas Pechy told me that 49 young vipers had been released last year and the target is now 80 per year. I instantly thought that we could do something similar for our Adder (Vipera berus) particularly for the West Midlands but then I realised that the meadow viper is not as aggressive or venomous as V. berus and can easily be fed on insects.
Nevertheless I felt inspired by the Centre's hard work and effort into effectively saving this species from possible extinction and wondered if we in the UK will need to take such drastic measures in the future.
I am particularly grateful to Colin Penny of Mátra Wildlife Tours for organising the visit and Tamas Pechy and the team at the Meadow Viper Conservation Centre for their friendly welcome and sharing their experiences with us.
Mátra Wildlife Tours would like to thank Jan Clemons for allowing us to reproduce the account of her visit on this site.
Taken from the Autumn 2007 edition of "ARGtoday", the newsletter of the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the United Kingdom.
Conserving the Hungarian Meadow Viper
Jan Clemons, Chair of ARG UK
.....................................................
The Meadow Viper (Vipera ursinii) is Hungary's most endangered vertebrate with perhaps only 500 individuals left within 11 small, isolated populations. Its decline is mainly due to habitat loss for cultivating crops and rearing livestock. Its critical situation is recognised both nationally and internationally under the Berne Convention, Appendix 11, IUCN 'threatened' status and it is also listed in CITES Anex 1.
This summer I visited the Hungarian meadow viper conservation centre in Kiskunsag National Park, Hungary and would like to share a success story with you. The centre is not open to the public but with the help of Mátra Wildlife Tours I met the Director Tamas Pechy and his team at the centre.
The main goal of the Centre is to breed vipers from small, genetically homogenous populations to increase the overall genetic diversity and release them back into the wild. The Centre is 50:50 funded by the Hungarian government and the EU Life Fund. We were shown the large outdoor vivaria where the vipers live and breed. Each vivarium contains a network of uniquely designed ceramic hibernacula tubes. This enbles the team to 'spy' on their guests during hibernation using an endoscope attached to a camera. We watched a video and were amazed to see lizards and newts sharing the hibernaculum with the vipers, which were frequently seen flicking their tongues.
The Centre started with 10 vipers and now has over 105 individuals (including 40 females). The females are moved indoors prior to giving birth to 6-17 babies. A viper birth had been filmed showing the babies born in a membranous sac. They are not hibernated during the first year in order to put on weight ready for introduction. Meticulous records are kept including DNA fingerprinting to confirm paternity.
The Centre is also carrying out adjacent grassland habitat restoration in the National Park to receive the captive bred vipers and is working closely with local farmers and the wider community to raise the conservation status of this very attractive viper.
Tamas Pechy told me that 49 young vipers had been released last year and the target is now 80 per year. I instantly thought that we could do something similar for our Adder (Vipera berus) particularly for the West Midlands but then I realised that the meadow viper is not as aggressive or venomous as V. berus and can easily be fed on insects.
Nevertheless I felt inspired by the Centre's hard work and effort into effectively saving this species from possible extinction and wondered if we in the UK will need to take such drastic measures in the future.
I am particularly grateful to Colin Penny of Mátra Wildlife Tours for organising the visit and Tamas Pechy and the team at the Meadow Viper Conservation Centre for their friendly welcome and sharing their experiences with us.
Mátra Wildlife Tours would like to thank Jan Clemons for allowing us to reproduce the account of her visit on this site.