Detector Dog Herpetofauna Inventory at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve 2023 - Open Format Dataset

St. Croix is home to a variety of threatened and endangered (T&E) species that are at risk for predation by the invasive red-tailed boa (Boa constrictor). Genetic analysis determined the original red-tailed boa population on St. Croix sourced from a single female released by a pet owner and its range expands every year. This inventory aims to search for red-tailed boas in two focal areas that park staff are actively restoring. The park will use information from this inventory to develop a boa removal program and protect sensitive native species.

Snakes are cryptic species, often occurring in low density, and utilize complex habitat patterns. To increase the likelihood of detecting red-tailed boa, the Maryland/Delaware/D.C. Wildlife Services detector dog handling team partnered with the USDA-APHIS National Detector Dog Training Center to train and develop detector dogs to assist in determining the presence/absence of red-tailed boa for this project.

Two dog detector teams traveled to Salt River Bay National Park (SARI) in St. Croix to conduct surveys for red-tailed boa in habitats likely to contain red-tailed boa in June 2023. Each transect was surveyed by one dog team. The canine teams had no red-tailed boa detections within SARI. Given the proximity of confirmed detections to SARI, it is likely red-tailed boa will be in the park in the future, if they are not already. Additional surveys, whether by humans, canines, or both, are recommended in areas of the park that have not been previously surveyed.

圣克罗伊岛（St. Croix）栖息着多种受威胁与濒危（Threatened and Endangered, T&E）物种，这些物种面临着入侵物种红尾蚺（Boa constrictor）的捕食风险。遗传学分析表明，圣克罗伊岛上的原始红尾蚺种群均源自一名宠物主人放生的单只雌性个体，且其分布范围每年都在扩张。本次调查旨在公园工作人员正在积极修复的两个重点区域内搜寻红尾蚺，公园将依托本次调查获取的信息制定红尾蚺移除方案，以保护敏感的本土物种。
蛇类属于隐蔽性物种，通常种群密度较低且栖息环境复杂多样。为提升红尾蚺的探测成功率，马里兰州/特拉华州/哥伦比亚特区野生动物服务处的探测犬作业团队与美国农业部动植物卫生检验局（USDA-APHIS）国家探测犬训练中心合作，训练并培育了专用探测犬，以协助本项目开展红尾蚺的存在与否排查工作。
2023年6月，两支探测犬作业团队前往圣克罗伊岛的盐河湾国家公园（Salt River Bay National Park, SARI），在疑似存在红尾蚺的生境中开展勘测。每条样带均由一支犬队完成调查，但本次调查未在该公园内探测到红尾蚺。鉴于已有确认的红尾蚺出没记录距离该公园较近，即便目前园内尚未发现红尾蚺，未来其极有可能入侵该公园。建议在该公园此前未开展过调查的区域，补充开展人工、探测犬或二者结合的调查工作。