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Sharjah, Mar 11: Some of the rare species of snakes living in the UAE may be wiped out if quarrying  is not stopped in the mountainous regions, a wildlife expert has warned. According to Damien Egan, Head of the Department of Herpetology and Freshwater Fish at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah, snakes living in the country’s mountains are under great threat.

"Quarrying works are destroying the mountains and endangering some of the rarest species of snakes. If this is not stopped a lot of snakes might soon become extinct from the region,” he said. He said a rare snake such as the Persian horned viper, which exists in the mountains about 600 metres above sea level, is in great danger.

“These species of snake rely on the cooler temperatures at the mountain tops. When humans start quarrying, building roads and developing, the snake populations may well not be able to cope with this,” said Egan, underlying the importance of the establishment of protected areas and the control of development.

“Snakes are generally good at surviving and the point is not to focus on conserving snakes alone, but to view snakes as a necessary part of the mountain ecology. Snakes eat rodents and other reptiles and, in turn, are preyed upon by birds of prey and foxes.  “They are part of the food chain and should never be considered a pest.

“Heavy traffic on the highways in the desert is another factor causing threat to the snakes. A number of dead snakes could be found on the roads,” he said. Recently, Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence officials killed two large snakes that entered houses in the emirate. He said that more people are being made ill in the UAE due to diseases spread by mice and rats than caused by  snake bites.

The UAE is home to a number of snake varieties including the large-snouted thread snake, Arabian sand boa, wadi racer and the rat snake.