The Spanish island Ibiza is facing an ecological emergency, being invaded by grass snakes, originating from continental Spain and North Africa.
Aerial view on the beach Cala D’Hort from Ibiza Photo Shutterstock
According to the stamp, more and more tourists say they are “too terrified to swim” after they have noticed in the waters of the island’s coast many huge snakes – up to 1.8 meters long. Other tourists have canceled their holidays.
The Hippocrepis Hemorrhois grass snake arrived in Ibiza in the early 2000s, transported unintentionally among the roots of the ornamental olives imported from the peninsula. In an environment devoid of natural predators and rich in food-especially the Podarcis Pityusensis wall lizard, these snakes multiplied quickly.
Hemorrhois hippocrepis/photo: wikipedia
“When I saw them in the sea it was a shock. We never expected to become such skillful swimmers”Explains Víctor Colomar, the coordinator of the consortium for the protection of the wildlife in the Balearic Islands.
From the Portinatx ribs to the S’Sspartar islands, the snakes colonize areas that were once safe for native fauna.
In addition to their amazing swimming capacity, the snakes in Ibiza become bigger. The record belongs to a copy caught in 2013, which measures 1.83 meters long, compared to an average of only 89 centimeters.
Scientists attribute this “gigantism” to the lack of predators and abundance of food. The result? Larger snakes, more eggs and therefore an even faster population increase.
If the invasion continues at this rate, the wall lizard, one of the island’s emblems, could completely disappear from Ibiza in 2030.
Environmental authorities and associations are engaged in a race against the stopwatch. The IbizaPreweating Foundation has already installed 280 traps, capturing almost 500 copies last year. Cofib has captured over 3,000 snakes between Mallorca, Ibiza and Formance.
On the social networks there are images of snakes that move zigzag at sea, feeding fear and uncertainty. The most recent episode took place in the Portinatx area, in the north of the island, where two people in a boat have overcame a snake of almost two meters long.
Some even decided not to be among the water, or to cancel their holidays. In a curious episode, a hike found a waterfall left for snakes, with a ticket: “With this heat, they will be their thirst.”
According to the expert Antiònia Maria Cirer, it is not unusual for the snakes to take refuge in the boats left on land in winter. When the boats are put back in the water, the animals fall and swim to the nearest coast. “It is an instinctive behavior, which causes alarm throughout the island,” she explained.
