The southwestern part of the Balochistan Province is a faunal extension of the Iranian Plateau in Pakistan, harboring more than one-third of Pakistan’s known amphibian and reptile species. We carried out field visits in five districts of southwestern Balochistan during 2013–2017 to investigate the scale and hotspots of reptile poaching. We encountered 73 illegal collectors possessing 5,369 live reptiles representing 19 species in ten families. Overall, Teratoscincus keyserlingii, T. microlepis (both Sphaerodactylidae), Phrynocephalus maculatus and P. luteoguttatus (both Agamidae) were the most collected lizards, having a relative abundance of 22.4%, 13.5%, 11.9% and 11.3 %, respectively. Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi (Scincidae) was among the least collected lizard. Similarly, Lytorhynchus maynardi (Colubridae) and Eryx tataricus speciosus (Erycidae) were the most abundant snakes in the total collection (4.4% and 3.0%, respectively). Among the poached reptiles were internationally protected species: Varanus griseus caspius (Varanidae; CITES Appendix-I), E. t. speciosus (Appendix-II), Naja oxiana (Elapidae; Appendix-II), and Saara asmussi (Uromastycidae; Appendix-II). We found that the overall trend of illegal reptile poaching steadily decreased during the study period (from 1,724 individuals in 2013 to 633 in 2017). According to collectors, poached reptiles were largely destined for the local and international pet trade but also targeted other markets including folk medicines and snake charmer shows. One particular hotspot for the collection of reptiles was identified and should be a focus of law-enforcement activities. This particular case study partly demonstrates the effectiveness of strict enforcement of recently amended provincial wildlife protection legislation in the less studied regions of Asia.

中文翻译：

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巴基斯坦Bal路支省非法偷猎爬行动物的案例研究

Bal路支省西南部地区是巴基斯坦伊朗高原的动物区系延伸，拥有巴基斯坦已知的两栖和爬行类物种的三分之一以上。2013-2017年，我们在西南Bal路支省的五个地区进行了实地考察，以调查爬行动物偷猎的规模和热点。我们遇到了73个非法收集者，他们拥有5 369个活体爬行动物，代表10个家庭的19种。总体而言，keyersterlingii菌，T。microlepis（均为Sphaerodactylidae），Phrynocephalus maculatus和P. luteoguttatus（均为Agamidae）是收集最多的蜥蜴，相对丰度分别为22.4％，13.5％，11.9％和11.3％。Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi（Scincidae）是收集最少的蜥蜴。同样，斑节对虾（Colubridae）和大头鹰（Eryx tataricus speciosus）是蛇类中最丰富的蛇（分别为4.4％和3.0％）。在水煮的爬行动物中，有受国际保护的物种：Varanus griseus caspius（Varanidae； CITES附录I），E。t。物种（附录II），眼镜蛇（眼镜蛇（Elapidae;附录II）和and鱼（Saara asmussi）（Uromastycidae;附录II）。我们发现，在研究期间，非法爬行动物偷猎的总体趋势稳步下降（从2013年的1,724个人降至2017年的633个人）。据收藏家说，水煮的爬行动物主要销往本地和国际宠物贸易，但也瞄准了其他市场，包括民间药品和耍蛇人表演。确定了一个特别的收集爬行动物的热点，应该将其作为执法活动的重点。