Interactions between snakes and seabirds on Robben, Schaapen and Meeuw Islands, Western Cape province, South Africa

Abstract

Encounters between seabirds and snakes are known from the literature both for South Africa (e.g. Dyer 1996, Calf 2004) and from further afield (e.g. Oro 1997, Bonnet et al. 1999, Wiles et al. 2003). Twenty-two islands occur along the South African coastline, between Matthew Island in the north and Bird Island, Nelson Mandela Bay, in the east. These islands represent important breeding colonies for seabird species, including seven that are endemic to southern Africa at the species level (Crawford et al. 1994). Breeding populations of snakes also exist on three of these islands: Schaapen (33°05′ S, 18°01′ E), Meeuw (33°05′ S, 18°01′ E) and Robben (33°48′ S, 18°22′ E) islands (Branch 1991, Dyer 1996). This paper reports predation events involving exchanges between snakes and seabirds on these three islands. On two occasions snakes were predated upon by seabirds, while one incident of an attempt by a mole snake