The Study of Snakes Fauna in Esas Protected Area in Mazandaran Province

Esas Protected Area with an area of 2997 hectares in the south of Savadkouh city along the easthern side of the Ghaemshahr-Tehran road is located in Mazandaran Province, Iran. This study was performed to identify the snakes fauna of this region from early April to late November 2013. Live samples were photographed in the area and transferred to the laboratory. During this research, 50 specimens were collected and a total of 11 species of 10 genera and 5 families were identified. These include: Dolichophis Schmidti, Elaphe dione, Hemorrhois ravergieri, Platyceps najadum najadum, Telescopus fallax iberus, Zamenis persicus, Malpolon insignitus fuscus,  Natrix natrix persa,  Natrix tessellata,  Xerotyphlops vermicularis and Gloydius halys caucasicus. The highest frequency belong to the species Elaphe dione (16 %) and Gloydius halys caucasicus (16 %), and the lowest belongs to the Malpolon insignitus fuscus (2%). The identification key and distribution map of the samples of the region were also provided.