Climate change and the increase of human population will threaten conservation of Asian cobras.

ABSTRACT: Asian cobras (genus Naja) are venomous snakes distributed from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Because cobras often live near humans settlements, they are responsible for a large part of snakebite incidents and as such pose a challenge for public health systems. In the light of growing human populations, correctly mapping the present and future ranges of Asian cobras is therefore important for both biological conservation and public health management. Here, we mapped the potential climatic niches of ten Asian cobra species for both the present and the future, with the aim to quantify changes in climate and human population densities relative to their current and future ranges. Our analyses reveal that cobras that are adapted to dry climates and inhabit islands have narrow climatic niche

SUBMITTER: Chowdhury MAW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8438023 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature