@conference{
author = "Bjelica, Vukašin and Maričić, Marko and Anđelković, Marko and Golubović, Ana and Ajtić, Rastko and Sterijovski, Bogoljub and Arsovski, Dragan and Tomović, Ljiljana and Bonnet, Xavier",
year = "2022",
abstract = "Golem Grad island, better known as “Snake Island” due to the large population of dice snakes
(Natrix tessellata) is a strictly protected area within National Park Galičica (North Macedonia). From
2008, the snakes’ tale started slowly unravelling, thanks to the start of mark-recapture monitoring.
More than 6.000 snakes were marked during >15 years. Opportunistic dissections provided information
about fecundity and body condition. Three distinct colour morphs coexist: ‘green back with dark spots’
is the most common, but uniformly green and melanistic individuals are not rare either. Furthermore,
this population exhibits gigantism, possibly due to the abundance of food: the largest island male
and female measured 113cm and 129cm, respectively, in contrast to maximal body sizes from other
populations reported in literature: 95cm and 122.5cm. Worryingly, this island population faces serious
threats, especially fish poaching. Hundreds of snakes meet their untimely fate tangled and ultimately
drowned in fishing nets, or even persecuted, while small individuals are crushed by the rocks they hide
under by wandering tourists. Despite continuous conservation efforts, this snake population is rapidly
declining, particularly since 2011 when poaching pressure increased. More recently, additional dice
snake population surveys were launched in Prespa, in Konjsko village (MK) and on Mal Grad Island (AL).
The conservation status differs among the three localities. According to IUCN Red Lists, the dice snake
is considered as Near Threatened (NT) in North Macedonia, while in Albania it is still classified as Not
Evaluated (NE; however in the new, updated list of 2019 (still unpublished) is has been evaluated as
Least Concern (LC)). We plan to use genetics and recapture analyses to assess the genetic structure and
the degree of (possible) connectivity among sites. This information will be especially useful in order to
understand how viable Prespa Lake’s dice snake population(s) are, despite the various pressures they
face. Efficient conservation actions rely on such insight, while a species conservation action plan at the
transboundary level is required.",
publisher = "Skopje: Macedonian Ecological Society",
journal = "Abstract book: 6th Congress of Ecologists of the Republic of North Macedonia, with International Participation; 2022 Oct 15-18; Ohrid, North Macedonia",
title = "A twist of fate: Conservation of Lake Prespa’s iconic snakes",
pages = "159",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_5278"
}