Ball Python hunting by rural communities in southern Togo, Western Africa.
Article 78 of Law No. 2008-09 of the Carrying Forest Code strictly prohibits the hunting of gravid females, newborns, juveniles, eggs and the associated destruction of ball python burrows. Furthermore, Articles 79 and 80 of the Carrying Forest Code allo
11 of 17 interviewees that commented on the cause of a decline referred directly to hunting, or to increasing numbers of hunters and farms (one stated that, "As we are capturing them with their eggs, they don’t have time to reproduce anymore"), four referred to tractors and cows (trampling), two to forest destruction, two to uncontrolled vegetation fires (n = 2), and one to climate change (prolonged dry seasons).
The use is non-lethal in most cases with ranched snakes supplmenting the exotic pet trade.
As of 2006, there were seven farms known to be operating in Togo (Ineich 2006; UNEP-WCMC 2014), with an agreed national annual export quota of 62,500 “ranched” specimens and 1,500 “wild” specimens in place since 2007 (UNEP 2019).
There was an exceeded quota of wild-sourced specimens from Togo, between 1999–2003 that was observed.
Based on a widespread suggestion among hunters that wild ball python populations have declined, the authors of the paper raise concern regarding the sustainability of this practice, and find little evidence of effective management. The authors also note that there is no formal population monitoring initiative currently in place and as such it is not possible to assess whether or not this level of exploitation is sustainable.
Exporters also trained Togolese “producer” villagers and provided them with the necessary equipment for temporarily keeping gravid females and hatching eggs, before selling the resulting juveniles to the farms.
The authors state that hunting ball pythons to supplement the international exotic pet trade is a valuable source of income for the hunters currently engaged in this commercial trade. However, the long-term viability of this activity as a source of financial income is jeopardised by an apparent increase in the number of captive-bred ball pythons in key importing countries such as the USA (Barker and Barker 2006), and the increasing role of the USA (and some European countries) as a global exporter of captive-bred ball pythons (CITES Trade Database, https://trade.cites.org).
The study suggests that the ball python production methods applied on the ground in Togo do not accurately reflect (1) offtake levels reported in CITES trade data, (2) the methods being reported to national authorities or international regulatory mechanisms
such as CITES, in terms of source country, (3) the extent to which current production methods are dependent on wild-sourced ball pythons, and (4) aspects of management practice (such as re-release of females and a proportion of juveniles). This irregular, if
not illegal trade may also be unsustainable, for example as implied by hunters reporting that there are fewer ball pythons in the wild than there were five years ago.
D’Cruze N, Harrington LA, Assou D, Ronfot D, Macdonald DW, Hoinsoudé Segniagbeto G, Auliya M (2020) Searching for snakes: ball python hunting in southern Togo, West Africa. Nature Conservation 38: 13–36. https:// doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.38.47864
This trade may also be unsustainable, as suggested by hunters reporting that there are fewer ball pythons in the wild than there were five years prior. Overall, most interviewees (75%; n = 45) stated that there were fewer ball pythons than there were five years ago: 67% (n = 40) stated that there were quite a few less, 8% (n = 5) stated that there were a lot less, while 7% (n = 4) that there were more, and 17% (n = 10) that there were the same number; one did not answer the question. Of the 45 interviewees that referred to an apparent decline in ball pythons in the last five years, 17 further commented on the possible cause of a decline.
Semi-structured interviews with hunters that self-identified as hunting ball pythons were used to gather information focused on ball python capturing and egg collecting practices. All but one of the interviewees (a 45-year-old widowed female) were males, 76% (n = 45) of which were in their 30s or 40s .
All but one interviewee (a “tailor/python reseller”) described themselves as hunters, farmers or both (over half, 62%; n = 37, said that they were hunters and farmers).
The authors describe a number of animal welfare
issues associated with hunting practices currently being applied in Togo. They claim it is likely that snakes suffered stress during capture (in most cases
physical removal from rodent burrows) and transport (live, in sacks filled with other and possible that they sustained physical injuries – either or both may result in death or increased susceptibility to disease and / or infection. Whilst
also not formally part of the study, post hoc visits to a number of hunters’ “holding facilities” revealed sub-optimal captive conditions, and morbid animals with little to no veterinary, hygiene or disease transmission protocols in place.