annual report - The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund

One-year old male Antiguan racer
ANTIGUAN RACER
Alsophis antiguae
Critically Endangered
Antigua and Barbuda
$5,000
Red List Justification
Extent of occurrence is only 0.65 km² (less
than 0.1% of its natural range) and it is
continually threatened by invasive species,
inbreeding, and natural disasters.
ANTIGUAN RACER
Alsophis antiguae
By ThE 1990s ONLy 50 ANTIGUAN RACERS REMAINED, ALL CONFINED TO A SMALL ISLAND
OFF ANTIGUA, GREAT BIRD ISLAND (9.9 hECTARES), EqUIVALENT TO 0.02% OF ThE SPECIES’
ORIGINAL DISTRIBUTION RANGE. TO SAVE ThE SPECIES FROM IMMINENT ExTINCTION,
ThE TEN-yEAR ANTIGUAN RACER REINTRODUCTION PLAN (1999-2009) WAS DEVISED.
GREAT BIRD ISLAND AND 11 OThER ISLANDS WERE RESTORED By ERADICATING ThE ALIEN
INVASIVE RATS (RAttus RAttus) AND SMALL ASIAN MONGOOSE (HeRPestes jAvAniCus)
ThAT PREy ON ThE RACERS AND OThER WILDLIFE, AND ThE RACER WAS REINTRODUCED TO
ThREE ISLANDS: RABBIT ISLAND IN 1999; GREEN ISLAND IN 2003-2005, AND yORk ISLAND
IN 2008-2009. By 2009, ThE WORLD POPULATION OF ANTIGUAN RACERS hAD REAChED
300 ON FOUR ISLANDS (65 hECTARES TOTAL) AS A DIRECT RESULT OF ThESE EFFORTS.
hOWEVER, ThE ANTIGUAN RACER IS STILL ONE OF ThE WORLD’S RAREST ANIMALS AND
FACES SERIOUS ThREATS.
All Photos: Jenny Daltry / Fauna & Flora International
ANNUAL REPORT 2010 PAGE 29