Hungarian meadow viper

Vipera ursinii rakosiensis

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There’s a snake in the grass—but the viper in this Hungarian meadow is more threatened than a threat, at least to people. As new ways of farming replace the old, these vipers have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Can conservationists change the hearts and minds of local farmers in time to preserve this critically endangered species? Ari Daniel Shapiro reports from Kiskunság National Park.

Image Credit: Bálint Halpern, Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society. CC BY-NC

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Meet the Scientists

Hungarian Meadow Viper Podcast: Meet the Scientist

Meet biologist Bálint Halpern:

Bálint Halpern of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society, photographing a viper. Credit: Bálint Halpern. CC BY-NC

Holding baby vipers. Credit: Baracsy Akos_resize

Where do you work?

I am biologist, currently working as LIFE-project manager at an NGO, MME BirdLife Hungary.

What do you study?

All our activities focus on the conservation effort of Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis) including actions like captive breeding with genetic screening, reintroduction with radio-tracking, habitat reconstruction with acting against invasive plant species and organising PR-activities in order to explain our effort and increase acceptance of subject species and snakes in general.

What are three titles you would give yourself?

Conservation biologist, Herpetologist, Scuba diving instructor.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

I like to discover underwater environment, doing scuba diving for 20 years, mainly in the Adriatic and Red Sea. As a sport, futball is the name of the game, playing at a lower division amateur club: BEAC.

What do you like most about science?

The complexity of a conservation effort never let you bored, providing great opportunities to use and test latest developments in science and technology, creating a network of international collaborations. I am really interested in conservation oriented use of genetic methods, photography and remote sensing.

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Extras

Hungarian Meadow Viper Podcast: Extras

Images

See Ari’s photos from his trip to Hungary—including a truly ruling snake tattoo.

More Images

View a gallery of some of Hungary’s orthopterans: cicadas, grasshoppers, and crickets.

Facts

Like all vipers, these snakes use hinged fangs to inject venom into their prey. When small, young meadow vipers feast on grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. When they’re grown up, they will subdue larger prey: lizards, young birds, and rodents.

Tufts of grass called tussocks provide the meadow viper with shelter from predators. These small snakes can end up as a meal for birds such as rollers, harriers, and pheasants, or the Great Bustard, a protected species. Wild boars, badgers, and foxes dig the snakes out of their burrows.

The Hungarian meadow viper is ovoviviparous; in this reproducive strategy, the female retains eggs inside her body until the young are fully developed. Hatchlings emerge live from the mother. Snakes also can be oviparous (laying eggs) or viviparous (bearing live young).

In addition to the Great Bustard mentioned above, endagered birds in Hungary include the Imperial Eagle and Saker Falcon.

Participate

If you live in or are studying in Hungary, visit the website run by Bálint Halpern and the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society. You’ll find more in-depth information about conservation efforts as well as ways to help the Hungarian meadow viper.

Hungary is a birders’ mecca in Eastern Europe. If you’re traveling to Hungary, visit the website of birdinghungary.com for bird lists, then share your photos with EOL via our Flickr Group Pool.