Brown tree snake
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The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) is an arboreal colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, Papua New Guinea, and a large number of islands in northwestern Melanesia.
Spread
The brown tree snake was a stowaway on US military transport at the end of World War II. The slightly venomous, but rather harmless, snake came north to Guam and killed almost the entire native bird population on the previously snake-free island. This snake has no natural predators on the island; nowadays, Guam is one of the areas with the highest snake density in the world (an estimated 2,000 snakes/km²). Even so, this nocturnal tree snake is rarely seen by residents. They curl up and hide during the day, and move about on trees and fences at night.At least eight brown tree snakes have been found in the Hawaiian islands since 1981. Because they can cause the same amount of harm to Hawaii as they have done to Guam, the State of Hawaii makes concerted efforts to inform the public about the snakes, particularly at Honolulu International Airport.
External links
- [The Brown Tree Snake on Guam]: How the arrival of one invasive species damaged the ecology, commerce, electrical systems, and human health on Guam: A comprehensive information source.
- [The Brown Tree Snake] (Information on distribution, habitat, identification, etc.)
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