Viper Conservation Initiatives
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
The Orianne Society, in conjunction with the University of Georgia, is conducting a field project on Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake ecology. The ecological project focuses on determining how habitat loss and fragmentation has influenced the distribution and abundance of Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes in Coastal Georgia and includes extensive surveys for the species on coastal islands and mainland sites...
Bushmasters
Bushmasters are one of the greatest icons of untouched lowland rainforests in Central and South America. When we envision untouched rainforests, we think about jaguars hunting the shadows, monkeys feeding in the trees, and scarlet macaws flying overhead but we also need to think about the world’s greatest viper coiled in the buttress of a large fig tree. Bushmasters are one of the largest vipers in the world and the only viper in the New World that lays eggs. The Latin name for bushmasters comes from the Greek god Lachesis, a goddess who measured each person’s thread of life or how long they would live...
Timber Rattlesnake
For thousands of years, Timber Rattlesnakes have lived and hunted in one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, the Appalachians. They are one of the few remaining top predators surviving in the Appalachians and the greatest remaining icon for the wild places that still exist in Eastern North America. However, every year Appalachian Timber Rattlesnakes move closer towards extinction as snakes are killed and their distribution continues to shrink. Timber Rattlesnakes are important; they are important as predators of small mammals and have played a prominent role in cultural and religious heritage of the Appalachian region...
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
The Midget Faded Rattlesnake is one of the most unique rattlesnakes found in temperate North America. Although a member of the wide-ranging Western Rattlesnake species complex, this shy snake has many differences from its relatives: small adult size (less than 2 feet long), unique venom, year-round use of rocky outcrops as denning/birthing sites and a range restricted to the canyons and shrublands of the Colorado Plateau of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. It is especially suited to the unique geology of its range and likely could exist nowhere else. Venomous reptiles are one of the most misunderstood and heavily persecuted groups of animals in the world. There are over 250 species of vipers, distributed across all continents with the exception of Australia and Antarctica...
IUCN Viper Specialist Group
The Orianne Society recently teamed with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to for The Viper Specialist Group (VSG) – a group of viper specialists from around the world. Together, with these individuals, we will serve as a global voice for implementing viper conservation. Venomous reptiles are one of the most misunderstood and heavily persecuted groups of animals in the world. There are over 250 species of vipers, distributed across all continents with the exception of Australia and Antarctica...
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