The first genetic assessment of wild and farmed ball pythons (Reptilia, Serpentes, Pythonidae) in southern Togo

By

Auliya, Mark
Hofmann, Sylvia
Segniagbeto, Gabriel
Assou, Délagnon
Ronfot, Delphine
Astrin, Jonas
Forat, Sophia
Ketoh, Guillaume
D'Cruze, Neil

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

Nature conservation

Volume

38

Pages

37--59

Subjects

COI gene , microsatellites , population assignment , Python regius , West Africa , wildlife trade management

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2012-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.38.49478

 

Abstract

The ball python (Python regius) is the world’s most commonly traded python species for the “exotic” pet industry. The majority of these live snakes are produced via a number of python farms in West Africa that have been in operation since the 1960s and involved with “ranching” operations since the 1990s. However, to date no thorough taxonomic review or genetic studies have been conducted within its range, despite the fact that the evaluation of a species’ genetic variability is generally considered mandatory for effective management. We used mtDNA sequence data and eight polymorphic microsatellite markers to assess the underlying population genetic structure and to test the potential of the nuclear markers to assign farm individuals to wild reference populations in southern Togo. Despite the relatively large distances between sample locations, no significant genetic population structure was found, either in mtDNA sequence data or in the microsatellite data. Instead, our data indicate considerable gene flow among the locations. The absence of a distinct population subdivision may have resulted from an anthropogenic driven admixture of populations associated with commercial wildlife trade activity in recent decades. Given the ongoing largely unregulated nature of the commercial ranching of ball pythons in West Africa, should a wild release component continue, as a first measure we recommend that the Management Authorities should develop an action plan with specific release protocols for python farms to minimise any potential negative conservation impacts resulting from admixture (genetic pollution) between farmed and wild individuals.