Rock Python

[Kenshin]

they got bred in canada years ago

 

[Snakeluvver2]

Theres plenty of snakes that arnt in captivity, its not that sad.
Native mammals might be in decline but feral animals have taken their place as the food source.
Cane toads havnet affected them seeing as they live in to different habitats.
And there is no real evidence that they in decline.
Not very sad at all

 

[greeny1]

yeah i much rather seeing them in the wild to waruikazi, and i get where you are coming from aswell, but if their numbers are on the decrease in the wild it would be good to at least have some oenpeli's somewhere, i would rather have them behind glass than not have them at all. would be great if someone could start a conservation part for them. breed them in cativity and release them in the wild again, but first we would need to fix the reason they are on the decline.
sorry if it looked like i was having a go at you mate
greeny

 

[waruikazi]

Nah man i didn't think you were having ago, i just didn't quite get you first up. That is definatley one idea that could be used for a management plan for this species.

yeah i much rather seeing them in the wild to waruikazi, and i get where you are coming from aswell, but if their numbers are on the decrease in the wild it would be good to at least have some oenpeli's somewhere, i would rather have them behind glass than not have them at all. would be great if someone could start a conservation part for them. breed them in cativity and release them in the wild again, but first we would need to fix the reason they are on the decline.
sorry if it looked like i was having a go at you mate
greeny

 

[greeny1]

unfortunately the money to pay for it will have to come from someones pocket, doubt the government would do anything to help.

 

[Kenshin]

unfortunately the money to pay for it will have to come from someones pocket, doubt the government would do anything to help.

sure they will they would take the money required for the animals!

 

[DanN]

Hi Guys,

I am interested in what Waruikazi and Jaime have to say.

Surely, we have absolutely no idea about the status of wild Oenpelli's? I spent many years visiting places in Kakadu and adjacent Arnhemland. Never once did I come across an Oenpelli. 34,000 km2 is a huge area, and while this species may not occur throughout, locational data places them as occuring at the northern and southern extremities of the sandstone country.

I find it unlikely that Cane toads would have a dramatic effect on this species. Neonatal Oenpelli's are the largest of all Australian pythons, easily large enough consume rodents, and, as with most pythons, likely showing a preference for lizards as oppose to frogs. A reference was made to juvenile green pythons eating frogs, yet there is no evidence of this and while it may be case, toads have occured throughout the range of green pythons for the last 10 years and this species is still found is very high densities.
Oenpelli's are no doubt one of the apex predators in the sandstone country. They are large, long lived, eat infrequently and therefore, would be few and far between without any impact from toads.

As has been mentioned, the greatest threat to this species is likely inappropriate fire regimes, in which case, they have probably been declining since the arrival of the Aborigines.

I would be very interested to hear any hard evidience regarding the status of this species.

My 0.02 cents.

Dan

 

[waruikazi]

Sounds like a wicked PHD topic. It would be great if someone could do it.

 

[aussie-albino]

It would be good to get the facts.

cheers
Scott

 

[Elapidae1]

Hi Guys,

I am interested in what Waruikazi and Jaime have to say.

Surely, we have absolutely no idea about the status of wild Oenpelli's? I spent many years visiting places in Kakadu and adjacent Arnhemland. Never once did I come across an Oenpelli. 34,000 km2 is a huge area, and while this species may not occur throughout, locational data places them as occuring at the northern and southern extremities of the sandstone country.

I find it unlikely that Cane toads would have a dramatic effect on this species. Neonatal Oenpelli's are the largest of all Australian pythons, easily large enough consume rodents, and, as with most pythons, likely showing a preference for lizards as oppose to frogs. A reference was made to juvenile green pythons eating frogs, yet there is no evidence of this and while it may be case, toads have occured throughout the range of green pythons for the last 10 years and this species is still found is very high densities.
Oenpelli's are no doubt one of the apex predators in the sandstone country. They are large, long lived, eat infrequently and therefore, would be few and far between without any impact from toads.

As has been mentioned, the greatest threat to this species is likely inappropriate fire regimes, in which case, they have probably been declining since the arrival of the Aborigines.

I would be very interested to hear any hard evidience regarding the status of this species.

My 0.02 cents.

Dan

I suggest that Aboriginals are not the sole reason or the greatest cause of change in fire regimes in the NT, this just happens to be the more common belief. Lightning strike is the most common cause of wildfire in the NT and the intensity of fires far greater due to exotic weeds. This has a huge effect on the enviroment because flora that would usually recover from less intense fires or actually require less intense fires for germination are unable to survive the impact. Our native plants have adapted exceptionally well to fire, even to the point where trees drop leaves and dead wood in a fashion that assists burning. The introduction of plants that burn faster and more intensely has upset the balance of this adaptation

 

[Pythoninfinite]

The nature of fires in the NT has changed dramatically since the pastoral industry started introducing exotic grasses as fodder - gamba grass is a great example - they are far more frequent and far more intense, to the point where soil can actually be sterilised by the intensity of the heat, and when this happens on an annual basis, there is no ability to recover.

I don't believe that it can be 'business as usual' for any major top-end vertebrate at this point in time - the spin-off effects of the issues raised in this thread will be too great in the medium to long-term.

 

[Bushfire]

What exactly happened to the ones that were declared in the NSW 1996 - 97 amnesty? Or was it all just a grab for paperwork for imaginary snakes.

 

[waruikazi]

I didn't know any were declared. Do you know of some that were?

 

[Bushfire]

Im certain there was at least 2 declared, but wondered if these were existing animals or not. At the time I know alot of people were declaring imaginary snakes/reptiles to get the paperwork and then collecting them at a later date, this seemed to be a real common practice at the time. DECCW from my understanding were resisting getting them on the system same with the Rough scaled pythons supposely declared at the time too. Maybe when the officers came around to inspect them these snakes magically died and bodies already disposed of. I was hoping someone here may know the story.

 

[-Peter]

I am heartened to see that the future of the Oenpelli python is so assured. I had no idea the number of experts we had in the community though I must admit to not being overly surprised. Still, an informative thread overall even if it started from a mistake.

 

[DanN]

Dear Peter,

Without re-reading, to my memory this thread makes no claims assuring the future of this species. What does need to be pointed out is that there is a *****ide to every coin. Without adequate data, we cannot infer any status on Oenpelli's. There is not a single shred of evidence pointing to a decline in this species and, given what we can infer of the species general ecology, introduced toads and small pop. size are not necessarily terrible.

I do agree with the earlier points, introduced weeds etc leading to altered fire regimes would, in my opinion, be the greatest known threat to this species.

Dan

 

[-Peter]

Dear Dan, ?????????.Your response really puts some lead in my musket.

 

[waruikazi]

Dear -Peter,

Are your being fecitious? If so, why?

Love from Gordon

 

[WombleHerp]

Dear -Peter,

Are your being fecitious? If so, why?

Love from Gordon

:lol:

 

[GeckoJosh]

Hey all- I've recently been offered a nothern territory rock python (liasis oenpelliensis)

Haven't seen any aound and just wondered if anyone here kept/bred/knew anything about them..

So when are you getting your new snake?