1. and what do we know?Stephen Spawls

2. In September1914, ArthurLoveridge arrivedin Nairobi, ascurator of theNairobi Museum.It was the formalstart of Kenyanherpetology.What has happenedsince? Are wemaking progress? 3. Lets considerconservation basics,then the history ofreptile conservation inKenya, and finally theway forward.So why isconservationimportant? Twomain reasons 4. Firstly; economic. Protecting wild places and their inhabitants will provideincome, via employment in tourism. And the natural world may be a sourceof useful and valuable material and chemicals for medicinal and commercialuse. In 2010, tourism brought 900 million dollars into Kenya and employedtwo million Kenyans. 5. And wild places are good for us.It is a pleasure to visit thewilderness. We yearn for thechance to walk, or drive, in anunspoilt area, and we owe it toour children to protect suchareas. Many feel that wild placeshave a spiritual and culturalquality. 6. Conservationdoes the greatest good to the greatestnumber [of people] for the longest time - GiffordPinchot, first chief of the United States Forest Service,1905.Kenyas wild places are worth protecting!! 7. So, in reptile conservation, what do we need to do?1. Define the region - in this case, Kenya.2. Find out what is there, and list the species.3. Find out exactly where they live.4. Clarify the status of the various taxa.5. Make the information public, and heighten awareness.6. Monitor the populations and protect key areas. 8. Some important dates:1895 The East Africa Protectorate was declared; boundaries drawn.1920 Name changed to Kenya Crown Colony12th December 1963 Kenya become an independent republic. 9. Before the creation of boundaries, the area was visited by a handful ofnaturalist-explorers, who collected specimens and took them back totheir home museums. Above are Wilhelm Peters, who collected on theKenya coast, and described the speckled green snake, Philothamnuspunctatus, and Ludwig Von Hohnel, after whom Von Hohnel'schameleon is named; Von Hohnel explored to Lake Turkana with CountSamuel Teleki. 10. Arthur Donaldson Smith collected in Ethiopia andnorthern Kenya in 1894. He found the firstspecimen of the beautiful sand snake,Psammophis pulcher, and for 100 years it wasonly known from four specimens. The NMK hadno specimen. But in 2011, safari guide Sean Flattfound several at Bisanadi. This shows whyfieldwork is important. 11. A notable pioneer of natural historywas Sir Frederick Jackson. Fifteenbirds are named after him, andfour Kenyan reptiles, includingJacksons centipede-eater andJackson's chameleon. For goodmeasure, he was also promotedLieutenant Governor of the EastAfrican protectorate and Governorand Commander-in-Chief ofUganda in 1911. And he foundedthe Kenya Game Department. 12. In 1910, Nairobi got its firstmuseum, and in 1914, thefirst paid curator wasappointed; Arthur Loveridge.A Welshman, Loveridge hadno degree but was a keenherpetologist. For the firsttime, Kenya had an institutewhere experts could beconsulted and specimensdeposited. 13. And in 1930, a new museum wasopened, on the hill above the NairobiRiver. It was funded by theGovernment and Lady Coryndon, andwas named The Coryndon Museum,in honour of her husband, Sir RobertCoryndon, Governor of Kenya from1922 to 1925. In 1964, it wasrenamed The National Museum. 14. In 1938, in Uganda, the firstcomprehensive guide to any group of EastAfrican reptiles was published, CaptainCharles Pitmans book A Guide to theSnakes of Uganda; with accurate colouredillustrations of almost all species. Only fivehundred bound copies were produced.Nowadays copies are worth severalthousand pounds. 15. In 1940, Louis Leakey was appointedcurator of the Museum, in 1943 he askedC. J. P. Ionides to collect snakes for themuseum. It was an inspired move. Iodineas his friends knew him, was based inTanzania, but travelled all over East Africa,collecting, and contributed many hundredsof specimens to the museum collection. 16. And from 1946 onwards, a numberof National Parks and othersanctuaries were set up in Kenya,and protected the biodiversity of awide variety of habitats. All floraand fauna was protected, includingreptiles. 17. Many National Parks and Game Department professionalscollected material for the museum. Tsavo warden BillWoodley collected the first Tsavo specimens of the red-spottedbeaked snake, Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus. 18. In 1959, fundswere raised for themuseum to start asnake park, andthe first curatorwas JonathanLeakey, LouisLeakeys eldestson. He later setup a commercialsnake farm atLake Baringo. 19. The Park was curated by several charismatic herpetologists, who raised the profileof herpetology and conservation in Kenya, including James Ashe. Once a week, apublic exhibition of venom extraction (snake milking) was carried out at the park. Onthe right, the director Peter Nares takes venom from a Jamesons mamba, assistedby Mark Easterbrook. (picture Bob Drewes/Kit Boyd). In 1980, James and Sanda Ashefounded Bio-Ken, at Watamu, and saved snakes, educated people and saved thelives of many snakebite victims. 20. Some high profilevisitors came to thepark. Here PrincePhilip and ProfessorThomas Odhiamboare shown around by ayoung Richard Leakeyand Alex Duff-MacKay 21. A couple of important milestones. In 1967,Gerald Rilling (shown right) and FrankDeSaix independently collected a newspecies of bush viper in the forest of MtKenya and the Nyambene Hills, and it wasdescribed by James Ashe, as Atherisdesaixi. The picture above shows Ionidesand James Ashe discussing the status ofthe new snake. 22. In 1971, Jackson Iha was appointed senior curator at the snake park. 23. A number of youngand enthusiasticherpetologists visitedand assisted at thesnake park. 24. The Snake Park and the Museum have often had a highprofile in the media; people are fascinated by snakes! 25. Two important museumherpetologists; Damaris Rotichand Alex Duff-MacKay. 26. The herpetologysection is nowstaffed by fourprofessionalherpetologists; DrsPatrick Malonza(TL), Beryl Bwong(TR), VictorWasonga (BL) andVincent Muchai(BR) 27. Progress in Kenyan herpetology? Checklists showincreased numbersSnake species recorded:1924 Loveridge Checklist: 681957 Loveridge Checklist 891978 Spawls checklist 1062002 Field Guide 1152014 Kenya Reptile Atlas 131Lizard species recorded:1924 Loveridge Checklist: 701957 Loveridge Checklist 731997 Spawls and Rotich checklist 992002 Field Guide (Spawls, Howell, Drewes and Ashe) 1042014 Kenya Reptile Atlas 124 28. Some major collecting expeditionshave taken place; the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences financed asurvey of the herpetofauna ofnorthern Kenya in the early1970s; the pictures show theteam at Lake Turkana andLokichoggio, and a road nearWajir. 29. Survey work by the NMK team in the forested hills ofKenya has resulted in the discovery of a number ofnew and previously unrecorded species. 30. The spirit collectionis continuouslyexpanding. 31. As well as scientific papers, some useful bookshave been produced. The National Museum spiritcollection has been crucial for this;No specimens = no data = no distribution maps 32. The field guides were thefirst to show distributionsusing maps as well astext.Having the map, theillustration and the text alon the same page is veryuseful for identification. 33. The field guideteam (on right)We could not have mappeddistribution without thespecimens. To quote ProfessorIndiana Jones It belongs in amuseum! 34. A new initiative!sponsored by theRufford Foundation,under the auspices ofthe National Museums,The Kenya Reptile Atlas a free ongoing onlineatlas, downloadsavailable for all, atwww.kenyareptileatlas.com 35. The Kenya Reptile AtlasA project funded by the Rufford Foundation, under theauspices of the National Museum of Kenya; Department ofHerpetologyA free, downloadable, atlas of Kenyas reptiles. Its a resource for every naturalist inKenya, and it costs nothing! Starting now, regularly updated. For each species, you getillustrations, a description and a mapRed Spitting Cobra Swila Nyekundu Naja pallidaLocal Names: Kiko kitune, Kikokya nguku (KiKamba), Kipgineroi(Kalenjin), Kirugwa (KiTharaka), Mas Gadut (Somali)Identification: A fairly large, slim snake, maximum size about 1.5 m,hatchlings 20 cm, adults usually 70 cm to about 1.2 m.Distribution: Dry savanna and semi-desert, from sea level to about 1300 m altitude. Probably occurs virtually through northern and easternKenya, but few records from the far eastern side near the Somaliborder. Recorded from a number of Kenyan towns, including Garissa,Isiolo, Kakuma, Kibwezi, Lodwar, Mandera, Mtito Andei, Mwingi, Voi,Wajir, Wamba. Not found at altitude, so absent from most ofsouthwest Kenya.Natural History: Adults nocturnal, juveniles sometimes diurnal.Hides in termite hills, in holes, under ground cover. Eats a range ofvertebrates, particularly frogs.Conservation Significance: Not evaluated, but its huge distributionwithin dry and agriculturally unusable land in Kenya, Somalia andEthiopia means it is unlikely to be threatened in conservation terms.Occurs within the following Kenyan sanctuaries: Amboseli NationalPark, Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Losai National Reserve,Malka Murri National Park, Rahole National Reserve, Tsavo NationalPark (East and West), Samburu National Reserve, Shaba NationalReserve,Medical Significance: Highly venomous, front-fanged elapid snake.Not aggressive, but can spit venom, which causes intense pain if itlands in the eyes; first aid treatment consists of prolonged gentleirrigation of the affected eye(s) with large quantities of water or anybland fluid (milk has been used), followed by treatment with antibioticeye ointment.Symptoms following a bite include immediate pain, vomiting, swellingand occasionally necrosis of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Thevenom may be produced in large quantities; neurotoxicity is usuallyabsent. Fatalities are rare, but bites should be treated as emergenciesand victims should be seen by a doctor. A polyvalent serum isobtainable from an Egyptian pharmaceutical company; EgyOur sponsorsTo download material, log onto kenyareptileatlas.com andclick on downloadsWe also want yourobservations ofreptiles. Senddigital pictures orany other data tokenyareptileatlas@gmail.comThe TeamBeryl Bwong Patrick Malonza Vincent Muchai Victor Wasonga Stephen Spawls 36. What do you get?Text, map andillustrationsandits free! 37. Soin 100 years, a fair amount has been done. We have a goodnetwork of museums, some professional herpetologists, a somegood books and papers published, a world-class selection ofprotected areas.But what still needsdoing? 38. Fieldwork, fieldwork, fieldwork. We dontknow enough! This is the distribution mapfor the carpet viper, a medically significantsnake. It is probably much morewidespread, but we dont know. Funding forreptile and amphibian research is hard toobtain. Medical professionals andconservationists need this information, tomake informed choices. 39. Lets start with our nationalparks. Astonishing though itmay sound, virtually noconservation area in Kenya hasa complete reptile checklist (afew amphibian lists exist).Kenya has some nice endemicanimals. There may be somemore. But we dont know.Survey work is needed. Wecannot protect our reptiles andamphibians if we dont knowwhat we have and where!Kenya montane viper. Only on MtKenya and Aberdaresso far.Nairobi National Park. Some nice rhinos.But no reptile checklist! 40. And some of our rareendemics occur largely ortotally outside the NationalParks. They needprotecting. Some forestspecies are found only in thewest. Others occur only onforested mountains. Fromtime to time, reptiles arepoached. 41. .Computerisation. The catalogues are being updated 42. Taxonomic work is never done. Themolecular data from DNA is becomingincreasingly important, but traditionalherpetological taxonomy is stillimportant. Assemble a decent sampleof specimens, and you can documentvariation. 43. Brightly coloured agamas atough proposition, but DNAand male colours help. 44. Another nightmaregroup. Little geckoesof the generaLygodactylus andHemidactylus. Weneed specimens andDNA, time, money anddedication. 45. But the future is bright. There are many enthusiastic youngpeople who are prepared to get involved with protecting ourenvironment. 46. Hope you enjoyed the presentation.Thank you for listening.