Ophiofaunal diversity of Bongaon Subdivision of West Bengal, India, with a note of possible threats to the Snake population of the area
Paper Details
Ophiofaunal diversity of Bongaon Subdivision of West Bengal, India, with a note of possible threats to the Snake population of the area
Abstract
An investigation on the ophiofaunal diversity of Bongaon subdivision of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India was conducted from 2018 to 2019. Visual encounter (VES) method was used for sampling the snakes from the study area. A total of 20 species under 17 genera and 6 families were reported. Family Colubridae showed maximum species richness (55% of the total species) followed by Elapidae (20%) and Typhlopidae (10%). The relative abundance of colubridae was maximum (73.7%) followed by Elapidae (11.54%). The most dominant species was Checkered keelback (Xenocrophis piscator). Though the study reveals that the area is rich in snake diversity, but needs conservation. The study identified the possible causes of threats to the snake population in the study area which included Habitat destruction, Lack of Knowlwdge among people, Road kill and extensive use of pesticides.
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Priyankar Sanphui, Altamas Kabir, Gourav Saha, 2021. Ophiofaunal diversity of Bongaon Subdivision of West Bengal, India, with a note of possible threats to the Snake population of the area. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 19(1), 62-69.
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