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Vol. 52, 2013
Return of the pythons: first formal records, with a special
note on recovery of the Burmese python in the demilitarized Kinmen
islands
Chung-Wei
You1, Yen-Po Lin1, Yen-Hsueh Lai2,
You-Ling Chen3, Yao Tang4, Shih-Ping Chou1,
Hong-Yi Chang5, Robert T Zappalorti6 and Si-Min
Lin1*
1Department
of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Tingchou
Road, Section 4, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
2Veterinary Division, Taipei Zoo, No. 30, Xinguang
Road, Section 2, Taipei 11656, Taiwan
3College of Life Sciences, Fujian Normal University,
Fuzhou, Fujian Province 350117, People's Republic of China
4Fuzhou Zoo, No. 7, Chiqiao Village, Jinan District,
Fuzhou, Fujian Province 350011, People's Republic of China
5Conservation Division, Forestry Bureau, Council of
Agriculture, No. 2, Hangzhou South Road, Section 1, Taipei 10050, Taiwan
6Herpetological Associates, 575 Toms River Road, Route
571, Jackson, NJ 08527, USA
Abstract
Background: We report the first
formal records and population recovery of wild Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) in the
Kinmen islands, which are located 2.1 km from the Chinese coastline and
are under military control of the Taiwanese government. During the Cold
War period, bombardments by China destroyed most of the buildings and
vegetation on the island, possibly extirpating the python population.
In recent years, political tensions have subsided, and 95% of the
military forces have been withdrawn from the islands, allowing pythons
and other wildlife populations to recover 40 years after being
extirpated. Increased python predation on small livestock has recently
become a nuisance to farmers, villagers, and aboriginal people, who are
unaware of old python records from the island and therefore regard them
as invasive pests.
Results: In order to clarify the origin of this
python population, mitochondrial cytochrome b and COI genes were sequenced from
33 pythons from Kinmen, Fuzhou Zoo (China) and pet traders (Vietnam).
Molecular phylogeny and haplotype networks showed a close relationship
between Kinmen and Chinese populations, rejecting the speculation from
local people that pythons were introduced from Southeast Asia.
Population expansion of the python in recent years might be relevant to
the retreat of the army, illustrating a novel case of demilitarized
zone protecting wildlife.
Conclusions: Since Kinmen Island
has a similar latitude and climatic factors as the Everglades National
Park in southern Florida (USA), where the Burmese python has become
established, ecological and physiological research on the Kinmen
population has potential value for comparative studies of habitat
selection and niche modeling. Research on this new population could
facilitate development of management plans for the Kinmen Island
population and possibly help with managing the invasive population in
the Florida Everglades.
Key words: Demilitarized zone (DMZ);
Everglades National Park; Invasive species; Temperature tolerance.
*Correspondence: E-mail: fish@ntnu.edu.tw
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