Communication
Version 1
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Distributional Surges of Russell’s Vipers (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh
Version 1
: Received: 27 June 2024 / Approved: 28 June 2024 / Online: 29 June 2024 (05:54:44 CEST)
How to cite: Rahman, M. M. Distributional Surges of Russell’s Vipers (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh. Preprints 2024, 2024062027. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2027.v1 Rahman, M. M. Distributional Surges of Russell’s Vipers (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh. Preprints 2024, 2024062027. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2027.v1
Abstract
The once near-extinct Russell’s viper has recently come back to the area beyond its historical range. A couple of decades ago, its distribution was confined to 11 districts of Bangladesh. Hence, the study aims to update the distributional map of Russell’s Viper (Daboia russelii) across the country and find out the surges' causal factors. Both primary and secondary data were utilized in this study. It revealed that the distributional range of this snake was expanded from 22 to 33 districts in 2024. The respondents noted that climatic stressors like high humidity accompanied by hot weather, increased salinity, and increased frequency of flooding facilitated the spreading of the viper across the country. The cropping pattern and crop diversification were another major contributing factor. The shifting of the single-cropped area to a multi-cropped area in the Barind tract increased its main prey rats. Contrarily, the killing of natural predators such as foxes, monitor lizards and mongoose led to the rise in the snake population. The destruction of vegetation coverage in the upper part of the Padma Basin facilitated the movement of Russell's vipers downstream.
Keywords
Russell’s viper; surges; rats; Barind tract; cropping pattern; climate change
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Behavioral Sciences
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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