Tiger snakes living in Perth’s urban wetlands are accumulating toxic heavy metals in their livers, suggesting that their habitats – critical, local ecosystems – are contaminated and the species may be suffering as a result.
Lead researcher PhD Candidate Mr Damian Lettoof, from the Behavioural Ecology Lab in the School of Molecular and Life Sciences at Curtin University, said that not only were the snakes’ livers shown to contain moderately high levels of heavy metals, but sediment samples taken from some of the wetlands sites were found to have amounts of arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium that exceed current government guidelines.
“Urban wetlands are almost always polluted, commonly from contaminated storm water, past or present dumping of waste, and spill events,” Mr Lettoof said.
“Wetlands areas are usually situated at low points in the landscape, so unfortunately, a lot of urban run-off ends up in them. Generally speaking, the longer the wetland has been urbanised, the higher the levels of pollution.
Read more at Curtin University
Image: Lead researcher PhD Candidate Mr Damian Lettoof holding a tiger snake. CREDIT: Curtin University