DISTRIBUTION OF SNAKES IN HANTANA RANGE AND PERADENIYA UNIVERSITY PARK

Abstract

Sri Lanka is blessed with a diverse serpentine fauna, and the island harbours 93 snakespecies in 46 genera and 26 families.

Seven major habitat types namely Grasslands, Natural forest patches, Streams and waterways, PinUS plantations, Riverine forests, Agricultural lands, and managed landscape inthe Hantana range and Peradeniya University Park were surveyed for six months fromNovember 2001 to April 2002. Day and night-time survey was carried out to locate snakesand to record their microhabitats. Species identification was done in the field andphotographs of snakes were taken whenever necessary .

Twenty snake species (25'1'0 of the total: including six endemics were recorded from theseven sites during the survey. Highest number of species (l6) was recorded from thegrasslands. Agricultural lands, Riverine forests and Natural forest held the second highestnumber of species with nine and eight respectively. The number of species in the grasslandrepresents 30%. of the total number present in the country.

Hantana Range and the University land are subjected to severe degradation due to humanactivities. The natural forests have. reduced to a greater extent due to the illegal felling, andthe grasslands and Pinus plantations arc subjected to annual fires. Therefore, the mostsnake species found in the grasslands are heavily threatened Study and planningprograms should be initiated to conserve the diverse habitats types in the area to protectand conserve the diverse snake fauna of the area.