Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2006L03939:body:0:p7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2006L03939
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 17599–20620

Island Blind Snake, like other endemic reptiles, are displaced from their habitats within areas grossly affected by ant supercolonies through physical distress when traversing areas with swarming ants, through olfactory responses to ant secretions in gecko-ant and snake-ant interactions, or through changes in forest microclimates following crazy ant infestations.

Recovery Plan Objectives

   Overall Objective: To reduce the risk of extinction of Lister's Gecko and the Christmas Island Blind Snake and improve their conservation status in the long term.

   Specific Objectives: To determine the current status of Lister's Gecko and the Christmas Island Blind Snake and to identify and moderate the causes of their apparent declines within 5 years, specifically to:

       1. find both species in the wild;
  2. determine the likelihood that one or more potential threats are threatening the survival of the species;
  3. continue present abatement strategies, or develop and implement new strategies, for potential threats such as crazy ants, predators, habitat fragmentation and unintended invasive species introductions (quarantine effectiveness); and
  4. obtaining, following rediscovery of either or both species, sufficient knowledge of the biology and ecology of, and threats to, these species to guide an effective management program for increasing their numbers and spatial distribution.

    Recovery Actions

    Action 1. Survey and monitor the endemic reptilian and other selected taxa of Christmas Island

Incorporate survey/monitoring for the Lister's Gecko and Christmas Island Blind Snake into existing or new monitoring program covering other native reptiles, to determine their current status on Christmas Island. Integration will not only be a cost-effective way of monitoring qualitative changes in the distribution and relative abundance of the two targeted species, but will also identify changes in the status of other native species that can inform the recovery of the threatened species.

Where practicable Lister's Gecko and the blind snake should be searched for in biodiversity field programs, but in addition a specific program should create fixed transects within the last-known areas from which they were recorded. The most appropriate technique given the habitat and geology, is for transects to include permanent drift fencing and closable pit traps. Surveys should be conducted at least 4 times each year for a minimum of 4 days/survey, during which pit traps should be left open and checked twice daily concurrent with a visual survey of all reptiles active in a zone 5m on either side of the drift fence. Sticky (or other) traps should also be used on selected trees during the survey period and monitored hourly during hours of darkness. If possible, a mark/recapture program should also be carried out in association to obtain baseline demographic information on the reptile species encountered. Materials and designs for the traps and fencing will need to be trialed to