Southern African pythons (Python natalensis): diet, human perceptions, and persistence despite anthropogenic factors.

Abstract

Throughout the world, biodiversity is facing declines for multiple reasons, including climate change, land transformation, and habitat loss. Many species are facing decline and extinction, with little known about their basic life cycles and behaviours. This is especially true of ectotherms because of the additional challenges and difficulties involved in studying animals that do not feed as regularly as endotherms and are not necessarily active every day, or are not always readily apparent when they are active. This study focused on the southern African python (Python natalensis), the largest snake on the southern African subcontinent, about which little is known. Some research has been conducted regarding their breeding behaviour, but little is known about their diet, social interactions, persistence, seasonal and temporal behaviour, or anthropogenic impacts, uses, or importance. The overall aim of this study was to assess the persistence of the southern African python in South Africa, determining the threats faced and establishing baseline information about their life history, as well as documenting their anthropogenic significance. A systematic literature review was conducted on the family Pythonidae, examining the work done on the various species worldwide and highlighting areas that could be focused on for the benefit of their conservation. We found that the vast majority of work has been conducted on individuals in captivity, which has negative consequences for the management and conservation of wild animals. Social media was used to establish a detailed list of species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish that southern African pythons have been recorded eating, as well as document several novel feeding behaviours, specifically scavenging, caudal luring, active hunting, and an ontogenetic shift in their diets as they age. An online questionnaire and in-person interviews were conducted to gather information about the South African people’s perspectives on pythons, documenting a trend of positivity towards these snakes, while also highlighting misinformation, which was addressed in a bilingual educational poster.We assessed some of the cultural beliefs about these snakes, as well as some of their applications and uses in traditional medicine practices. Finally, we compared the occurrence data of southern African pythons over a ten-year time period, in light of land-use change, to establish whether they are persisting, increasing, or decreasing in their distribution in KwaZulu-Natal. We found that they are persisting through much of their range; however, there are proportionally more records from within protected areas than outside of them. We also established that pythons favour savannah regions, with rainfall between 500 and 900 mm p.a., below 400 m.a.s.l., with median summer temperatures between 22 and 26°C and median winter temperatures above 12°C. Conservation and management recommendations are made.