SNAKES ALIVE!
Serpentine surprises in New Zealand
New Zealand is one of the very few snake-free places on Earth – officially. Very recently, however, I was startled to learn that in reality there have been a fair few reports of snakes existing in several widely separate locations on both North Island and South Island. In a recent article for The Spinoff, investigator Charlie O’Mannin, who has sought these unofficial ophidians in both the literature and the field, carefully reviewed this fascinating subject. Perhaps the most persistent example concerns claims that thriving, perpetuating populations of Australian copperheads (genus Austrelaps) exist in various old West Coast gold mines.
In 2014, after interviewing several veteran gold prospectors who vehemently claimed that such stories were true, a journalist contacted the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), who promptly conducted a thorough search, because the putative presence of snakes was deemed to be a biohazard on account of the risk posed to the indigenous New Zealand fauna by these ostensibly non-native reptiles. No snakes were found, but the matter was considered serious enough to warrant the commissioning of a professional herpetologist to prepare a formal report, which included the exact GPS coordinates where according to one prospector in 1990 a copperhead had actually wound itself round his arm before vanishing when shaken off. O’Mannin obtained a copy of this report and visited the precise location, but no snake showed itself. In his own article, he includes details of much earlier reported snakes, of which the most intriguing is a metrelong snake encountered in 1875 by loggers working within the Ureweras range, one of the most remote regions in the whole of North Island. They swiftly killed it, but how can its existence there be explained?
Although New Zealand has been isolated from all other landmasses for many millions of years, it is home to various native species of lizard and frog, so is it totally beyond the realms of possibility that snakes do exist here too? If so, the chances are that they are nothing more special, zoologically speaking, than escapee/ released non-native pets, or even specimens that have stowed away on foreign ships or in imported produce. Also, some snakes are good swimmers, so perhaps by a combination of swimming and rafting on floating vegetation some specimens have made their own way here from Australia.
Least likely, but not impossible, as confirmed by New Zealand’s native herpetofauna, is that at least one highly elusive endemic snake species may exist, awaiting formal scientific discovery. This is certainly a very tantalising prospect, and one that I intend to pay close attention to in the future, so watch this space! https:// thespinoff.co.nz/society/03-09-2020/ i-went-hunting-for-the-legendarysnakes-of-the-west-coast-bush/ 3 Sept 2020.