NEW DATA ON THE BLOTCHED DIADEM SNAKE SPALEROSOPHIS DIADEMA (SCHLEGEL, 1837) IN THE MANGYSTAU REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

This article describes the findings of the Blotched diadem snake Spalerosophis diadema in the Karakiyansky district of the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan in the spring of 2025. Information on the current distribution, level of study and protection status of the species is provided. Over the entire history of herpetological research in Kazakhstan, about 26 finds of S. diadema have been recorded. The species lives in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the northern border of its vast range, occurs in two limited areas (territories near the southern tip of the Western chinka of Ustyurt and in the Kyzylkum desert) and is one of the most poorly studied and rare species of snakes in Kazakhstan. Territorial protection of a species can be carried out within the boundaries of specially protected natural territories with their own security staff. The Blotched diadem snake lives and, therefore, is protected in the Ustyurt State Nature Reserve, as well as in the territory of the projected specially protected area – the Southern Ustyurt cluster site of the Ustyurt State Nature Reserve. The need for its inclusion in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan is substantiated.