50 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 65, Supplement II 
2005; Mills 2010; Mills et al. 2011; Caceres et al. 2015). For example, Mills et al. (2011) noted that 
for forest birds on Mount Moeo, the greatest eonservation threats were the unsustainable utiliza¬ 
tion of wood, elearing of forest for subsistenee agrieulture, and deliberate burning of vegetation. 
They showed that the impacts of even small human populations are considerable, and Sekercioglu 
and Riley (2005) noted that the surroundings of Kumbira Forest have been deforested and planta¬ 
tions of banana, maize, sweet potato and other crops are common throughout the area, as are fire¬ 
wood collection and wildlife hunting. As elsewhere, habitat destruction is one of the main threats 
to amphibian and reptiles in Angola. Most of the habitat alteration in Angola is due to traditional 
agricultural and subsistence practices, urban expansion and logging, turning Angola into one of the 
countries with the highest rates of deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa (Hansen et al. 2013). 
The destruction of some wetland areas, especially swamp areas near urban centers, as was the 
case of the Panguila Lagoon near Kifangondo, is of special concern. These areas, which are being 
destroyed due to health concerns but also to provide space for urban development, host diverse 
amphibian communities and cannot be replaced. Their loss may even have negative consequences 
for local communities (Schuyt 2005). Other wetland and water use alterations include the imple¬ 
mentation of the national hydropower plans and the construction of several dams and reservoirs 
across the basins of the main river drainages, especially in the Kwanza River Basin, such as the 
case of the already built Capanda Dam (Ceriaco et al. 2014b) and the recently finalized Lauca Dam 
(both in Malanje Province), whereas other dams are currently in construction or being planned. 
Future climate change may impact the Angolan herpetofauna (e.g., Moise and Hudson 2008). 
Despite the current lack of specific studies aimed at understanding the potential effects that future 
climate change might have on Angolan biodiversity, it is known that climate change is likely to 
affect amphibian and reptile populations significantly (Sodhi et al. 2008; Sinervo et al. 2010; 
Hof et al. 2011; Munguia et al. 2012; Winter et al. 2016). 
Especially regarding amphibians, the emergence of several different serious diseases world¬ 
wide is of special concern. Currently there are no data on the presence of pathogens in Angolan 
amphibian populations (Olson et al. 2016), such as the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendro- 
batidis (Bd) (Fisher et al. 2009) that is known to occur elsewhere in Africa, including neighboring 
countries. Several factors and activities appear to contribute to spreading Bd, as for example the pet 
trade (Fischer and Gamer 2007; Picco and Collins 2008), migratory birds (Burrowes and De la 
Riva 2017), human-induced transportation (Weldon et al. 2004; Kolby et al. 2015), and it is also 
known that climate change can promote Bd expansion and effects on amphibian populations 
(Pounds et al. 2006; Lips et al. 2008; Rohr and Raffael 2010; Hof et al. 2011). Bd is almost 
certainly already in Angola, though field surveys are needed to understand its distribution and the 
impact on local species. The environments most suitable for Bd will likely mean that amphibian 
species at mid to high elevations, such as the Angolan escarpment, will likely be most impacted by 
this pathogen. 
One of the most visible threats for reptiles in Angola is illegal hunting and bushmeat. The 
current limited (yet valuable) available data allows us to understand the two main uses given to 
reptiles in Angola — human consumption and handicraft. Both uses are harmful for the conserva¬ 
tion of certain reptile groups, but are different in nature and likely require different conservation 
approaches. Despite the recent economic growth and social uplift among the Angolan population, 
many local populations still have little access to animal protein sources and use bushmeat. 
Although it is commonly available in the markets of most cities and villages, as well on the sides 
of major roads, there is scarce data for the bushmeat trade in Angola though there is evidence that 
it is growing rapidly. Recently Bersacola et al. (2014) provided preliminary data on the bushmeat 
trade in Angola, and while most animals recorded were mammals, they also found that reptiles. 
