Assessor: Krystal Tolley
Information from CapeNature Biodiversity Crime Unit suggests that substantial illegal collections of this species are made (A. Turner, Pers. Comm. 2018). In addition, many other species of small adders from this genus are in the pet trade, indicating a demand for these snakes.
This species is reasonably widespread, with a distribution size of over 6,000km2 (Turner 2014), which reduces its' overall vulnerability to collection. Populations are likely to be localised however, given that this species his a habitat specialist for aeolian sand habitats (Martiz 2011) and there is both natural and anthropogenic fragmentation of its' habitat.
Turner AA. 2014. Bitis caudalis (Smith, 1839). In MF Bates, WR Branch, AM Bauer, M Burger, J Marais, GJ Alexander, MS de Villiers (eds), Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
There is removal from the wild for pet trade of adults.
This species is viviparous, giving birth to 2-4 (exceptionally up to 7) offspring in a single season (Maritz & Alexander 2013). It is unlikely that this life history mode results in a fast population growth rate, particularly because estimates of survival are relatively low (Martiz & Alexander 2012a). A collector could feasibly harvest a large number of individuals from a localised subpopulation given that this species is relatively easy to detect. Because the species is relatively sedentary (both sexes), this suggests that dispersal is limited and recolonisation potential is low (Maritz & Alexander 2012b). Therefore, subpopulations could be vulnerable to over-collection with limited potential for recovery.