The species is threatened from possible overexploitation for the leather and international pet trades. Its range and that of P. curtus may be modified due to escapes, as snakes of both species collected for commercial trade are moved long distances in Sumatra to slaughterhouses (Shine et al. 1999, Keogh et al. 2001). In Sumatra, if the legal harvest quota is reached before the end of the year, harvesting continues and skins are stockpiled and smuggled out of the country (M. Auliya pers. comm. September 2011). It remains uncertain whether this additional off-take contributes to a severe decline of local populations.
Name
Emma Hemmerlé
Scientific Name
Python brongersmai
Common Name(s)
Blood Python
Brongersma's short-tailed python
red short-tailed python
Type of Use
Extractive (i.e., the entire organism or parts of the organism are removed from its environment)
If extractive, for the target species, is this use
Local people (e.g., individuals, communities, co-operatives)
National / local private sector
If more than one box ticked, please provide more details
In the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia (73,000 km2), blood pythons are collected by local people and sold to nearby processing facilities for their meat, skins, fat, and gall bladders;
Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE
Yes – use is negatively affecting the status (e.g., population is declining; extraction effort is increasing)
Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?
Unknown/not reported
Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species
Unknown/not recorded
Unknown/not recorded
Details of assessment carried out
In contrast to the temporal stability of demographic traits of the larger reticulated pythons processed at the same facilities over the same survey periods (Natusch et al. 2016b), our data on blood pythons reveal complex shifts in traits that imply that harvesting has been too intense.
Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded
Natusch, D., Lyons, J., Mumpuni, Riyanto, A., & Shine, R. (2019). Harvest Effects on Blood Pythons in North Sumatra. The Journal Of Wildlife Management, 84(2), 249-255. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.21790
Overall, the pythons collected in 2015–2016 were thinner‐bodied than in 1996–1997, with fewer immature animals and a reduced size at maturation and reproductive frequency among females; Clutch size relative to maternal size decreased also. These temporal shifts in python demographics likely reflect a response to harvesting, although ecosystem changes may have played a role. In contrast to the temporal stability of demographic traits of the larger reticulated pythons processed at the same facilities over the same survey periods (Natusch et al. 2016b), our data on blood pythons reveal complex shifts in traits that imply that harvesting has been too intense.