Cyclic Fluctuation in Number of Habu Caught on Amami Oshima

Abstract

The number of habu (Trimeresurus flavoviridis) captured in the period between 1954 and 1977 was counted based upon the records of the Naze Health Center and of the Habu Center of Naze. The Naze Health Center (prefectural) purchases live habu to milk for venom to make antivenin serum. The Habu Center (private enterprise) buys many dead and live habu to make leather goods and habu whisky and also to stage habu-mangoose fights. The total number of habu gathered by both centers may comprise the greater part of the habu captured on Amami Oshima Island. The number of habu seems to decrease year after year, in general, but it fluctuates periodically. The peaks appear at about 5-year intervals, and alternate peaks higher than the others appear at about 9-year intervals.
On Amami Oshima Island, habu inhabit mainly sugarcane fields. The yields of sugarcane (tons/10 ares/year) in the period between 1954 and 1976 correlate some-what with the changes in the number of habu captured.