By Annalise Falzon
On occasion of World Wildlife Day on 3rd March we would like to celebrate the world of reptiles and amphibians – two groups of animals which are highly misunderstood and often underappreciated.
Did you know that in Europe, the Algerian whipsnake (native to North Africa) is only found in the Maltese Islands? Or that the Ocellated Skink is the only Maltese reptile to be ovoviviparous? The eggs develop and hatch inside the female body so that the young are actually ‘born alive’.
In the HerpTrust Project , where we partnered up with the University of Cyprus and with Ecostack Innovations Limited (Malta), we aimed to improve biodiversity’s resilience to climate- and human-induced threads through nursing positive Human Herpetofauna Interactions.
The term Herpetofauna (herps in short) refers to the two animal groups of reptiles and amphibians together. As part of this project we invite you to contribute as citizen scientists by uploading your photos of sightings of local herps in the wild. This will contribute to to the Maltese HerpAtlas being developed as well as to greater knowledge of their distribution and importance.
Before going on your walk we suggest to download the inaturalist app (free registration) and join the project page to add sightings here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/reptiles-and-amphibians-of-malta
The project page can be viewed here.
Photos courtesy of Guido Bonett
