International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.3, 101-110 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmec 107 economically underdeveloped areas, catching and selling snakes is a source of income for some residents, and a simple ban will cause livelihood problems. 5.3 Ecotoxicological study on pesticide pollution on snake populations The large-scale use of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides has had a wide range of impacts on wildlife, among which snakes, as high-level predators in the food web, have gradually received attention in recent years. A study from urban wetlands in Australia focused on heavy metal and pesticide pollution. The researchers tested the concentrations of pollutants in sediments and livers of western tiger snakes in four wetlands in the same basin and found that both sediments from wetlands with high urbanization and tiger snakes accumulated more heavy metals (such as arsenic, lead, and mercury) and organic pesticide residues. In the most polluted lakes, the concentration of molybdenum in the livers of tiger snakes set the highest value measured for terrestrial snakes worldwide (Lettoof et al., 2020). Although these tiger snakes did not die immediately, their health was worrying. The impact of pesticides and pollution on snakes is often hidden and far-reaching, and it is necessary to increase attention, strengthen interdisciplinary research and management, and integrate ecotoxicology perspectives into snake conservation practices to mitigate the harm of human chemical pollution to snake diversity. 6 Countermeasures for Snake Protection and Ecological Restoration Recommendations 6.1 Habitat protection and restoration Habitat protection is the cornerstone of snake diversity conservation. Given that habitat loss and fragmentation are one of the main reasons for the decline of snake populations (Reading et al., 2010), it is imperative to protect existing key habitats and implement ecological restoration to expand and connect suitable habitats. Habitat protection and restoration require multi-sectoral collaboration and integrate biodiversity protection into land use planning and community development. Only by protecting "where snakes live" can the stability and diversity of snake populations be fundamentally guaranteed. As shown in a study on Colombian snakes: after analyzing the overlap between snake distribution and remaining native habitats, it was found that most of the priority protection areas are concentrated in areas such as the Amazon and Orinoco where there are still large areas of habitat. If these areas can be effectively protected, the country's snake diversity conservation rate will be greatly improved (Pulido and Velazco, 2025). 6.2 Legal supervision and trade control Sound laws and regulations and strict law enforcement supervision are institutional guarantees to ensure that snakes are effectively protected. Countries should continuously improve their legal systems based on their own snake resources and threat situations, and curb the impact of illegal trade on snakes through international cooperation. First, improve the level of domestic legal protection. For endangered and endemic snake species, the legal protection level should be upgraded, and hunting, killing and trading should be clearly prohibited. Second, strengthen law enforcement and public awareness of law-abiding. The government needs to increase the human and material resources of wildlife law enforcement departments, carry out regular inspections and surprise inspections in snake habitats and markets, and crack down on illegal snake catching and selling. It is also necessary to strengthen international trade supervision. As an international convention, CITES provides a framework, and countries should fulfill their obligations and strictly control the import and export activities of snakes listed in the appendix. In addition, encourage the development of artificial breeding and legal trade to replace illegal sources (Hierink et al., 2020; Aust, 2022). Finally, legal supervision also needs to cooperate with communities and the public. The government should listen to the demands of local residents, incorporate community interests into the formulation of relevant policies, and enable protection regulations to gain grassroots support. 6.3 Education and publicity and mitigation of human-snake conflicts It is particularly important to eliminate misunderstandings and fears and promote public participation in snake protection. Education and publicity can improve the public's awareness of the ecological value of snakes, reduce unnecessary hostility and killing, and alleviate human-snake conflicts at the source (Pandey et al., 2016). For example, snake science education can be incorporated into regular environmental education content, targeted
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