Reptile rescues are increasing in Sydney

As the city of Sydney, Australia increases in size and population, reptile rescues are increasing in number, according to new research tracking a decade of records. Researchers examined more than 37,000 records of snake and lizard rescues in the Greater Sydney area between 2011 and 2021. They found that people most commonly called into wildlife rehabilitators to rescue larger species. Two species—the venomous red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) and the eastern blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides)—were particularly prominent in the records. Surprisingly few of these records included instances of snake bites, the authors found. The team also uncovered seasonal trends, including more wildlife rehabilitators being called in at the start of the Australian spring in August and September. Numbers are increasing partly due to the expanding urban area of Sydney, the researchers said. But, they added, it’s also due to the extensive wild spaces preserved around the urban area.

Read more at Phys.org.