奄美大島のハブ咬害

抄録

This paper concerns the relationship between innhabitants and the deadly habu snake (Trimeresurus flaviridis) on the two major islands of the Amami Group, Oshima and Tokunoshima. This snake still claims between 250 and 300 victims (deaths and injuries) on these two islands every year.
The habu's habitat consists of rice fields, sugar cane fields, and places near villages, where the field mice and small birds upon which it feeds abound.
An examination of snakebite statistics reveals that the total number of victims changes little from year to year, for the decline in the incidence of snakebites on Oshima is offset by an increase in attacks on Tokunoshima. This is explained by the fact that whilst the prosperity of the pongee industry on Oshima has led to a reduction in outdoor labour, sugar cane cultivation, which is the major industry on Tokunoshima, requires long hours of outdoor work.
Over the last 20 years the proportion of victims aged 40 years and over has increased markedly. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the islanders who are in their twenties thirties leave the islands to find work elsewhere.
In other words, the occurrence of snakebites is but one expression of the ecological system which binds the lives of the habu, the inhabitants and the field mice on the islands together.