'Rise and fall' van een populatie westelijke smaragdhagedissen in Scheveningen

Rise and fall of a population of western green lizards in Scheveningen Few people know that an exotic population of western green lizards (Lacerta bilineata) has been present on a small isolated coastal dune (~13.2 km2) in Scheveningen for decades. A deliberate introduction was traced back via an interview to 1995/1996. The person responsible claims the population already existed since the early eighties. In 1995/1996 an adult breeding pair and eight of their o!spring were introduced. Genetics revealed the green lizards to be L. bilineata bilineata that originate from Central/Northern Italy. Successful reproduction has been established based on the observation of copulation scars on a female and the finding of subadults, clearly born a year before, in April 2018, 2019 and 2020. An analysis of droppings revealed that diet consisted of arthropods, mostly insects, but also woodlice and molluscs. Urban development was set to destroy the dune. Because the strictly protected sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) also inhabited the dune, a translocation of sand lizards took place in 2017. At the same time, western green lizards were caught and brought over to private terrarium hobbyists. Private citizens extracted most of the remaining specimens in 2019 and 2020. Early 2022 the dune was entirely excavated and any remaining western green lizards were most likely eliminated. Smaragdhagedissen hebben een wijde verspreiding in Zuid- en Centraal-Europa en Klein-Azië. De meest noordelijke populaties bevinden zich in het oosten en westen van Duitsland. Dit zijn geïsoleerde relictpopulaties van respectievelijk de oostelijke smaragdhagedis (Lacerta viridis) en de westelijke smaragdhagedis (L. bilineata). Enkele losse waarnemingen uit Nederland zijn bekend, maar de aanwezigheid van een populatie westelijke smaragdhagedissen zal menigeen waarschijnlijk niet voor mogelijk houden