Project takes next step to increase population of threatened species of snake in Alabama forest
By Shannon Delcambre
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ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — Efforts continue to populate a forest in Alabama with a protected and threatened species of snake.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced that 40 Eastern indigo snakes were released in the Conecuh National Forest in Escambia County May 11.
The release of the snakes is one step of a project that hopes to establish a viable population of the threatened species in its historic range along Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
“With this release, we will have completed another step toward reestablishing indigos in Alabama,” said Jim Godwin of Auburn University’s Alabama Natural Heritage Program. “This project also serves as the role model for the indigo reintroduction project in Florida, and for future reintroduction projects. What began as a local Alabama wildlife conservation project has demonstrated that the path to recovery is possible through successful, long-term reintroduction efforts.”
The ADCNR said a decline of coastal longleaf pine habitat led to the disappearance of the indigo from Alabama’s landscape, with the last wild indigo spotted in the 1950s.
Longleaf pine restoration efforts have helped make the reintroduction of the snakes possible.
The next indigo release in the Conecuh National Forest is planned for spring 2025.
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