Armenia plans to update its Red Book of Animals, and the Urartian ratsnake may be added
Armenia’s Red Book of Animals has not been updated since 2010. The new edition may add the Urartian ratsnake and drop the great cormorant.
The Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences plans to update the country’s Red Book of Animals using IUCN Red List criteria. The current book was approved in 2010. According to Aram Aghasyan, a herpetologist and senior researcher at the Center, the Urartian ratsnake is planned for inclusion in the new book. This large, non-venomous snake also lives in Georgia. The great cormorant, which has become numerous on Lake Sevan, may be removed. The project is still under discussion. Armenpress published the story on 29 September.
What is planned
Armenia’s Red Book of Animals lists the species that are threatened or need special protection. The Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology has submitted a project to update it to the Higher Education and Science Committee. According to Aghasyan, the aim is to review the book against current scientific data and the latest IUCN Red List criteria.
The scientists will gather information from scientific publications, monitoring programmes and existing databases. They will also run field surveys in areas rich in biodiversity, to see where species occur, what state their populations are in and what threatens them. Poorly studied and endemic species will get particular attention, invertebrates above all.
The work should produce a single GIS-based database and distribution maps. Each species will receive a national conservation status. The Center will also prepare recommendations for adding Armenian species to the global IUCN Red List.
Why now
The current book rests on data from 2007–2009 and the field surveys of that time. The Government of Armenia approved it by Decision No. 71-N of 29 January 2010, and the book was published that November. It covers 155 invertebrate and 153 vertebrate species.
Aghasyan says a Red Book should be updated at least once every ten years. New data can sometimes change a species’ status too. For example, the Pallas’s cat had not been recorded in Armenia since the 1950s, and the hyena was considered extinct in the region. In recent years new data on the hyena’s presence have emerged.
The Red Books of the 1980s covered vertebrates only. The 2010 edition added invertebrates, including insects and molluscs. Arachnids are not in it at all, because there were no specialists and the necessary studies had not been done. Aghasyan says specialists from abroad may be invited if needed.
The Urartian ratsnake: a new species for the list
Aghasyan, a herpetologist by profession, gave the Urartian ratsnake (Elaphe urartica) as an example. Taxonomic studies of the group of snakes once known as the four-lined ratsnake allowed scientists to describe a species new to science. He says the Urartian ratsnake is considered endemic to the Caucasus and is planned for inclusion in the new book.
The species was described in 2019 and split from Elaphe sauromates. Its type specimen comes from the Süphan Mountains in eastern Türkiye. The specimens and photographs in the description also come from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Dagestan.
And in Georgia?
The Urartian ratsnake is a large, blotched snake, usually 80–120 cm long, and it is not venomous to people. In Georgia, sufficient records come only from Kakheti: the Dedoplistskaro, Sagarejo, Kvareli and Lagodekhi municipalities. One of the photographs in the 2019 description was taken at Didi Shiraki.
The species is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. The 2026 checklist of the country’s amphibians and reptiles lists it as a candidate species, which means its status is not yet settled. The 2025 global IUCN assessment rates it Least Concern.
From a distance this snake looks like a Levantine viper. If you see a large blotched snake on the dry steppe of Kakheti, watch it from a safe distance and do not touch it. Other species are on the snakes of Georgia page.
The great cormorant may leave the list
New data can also mean a species comes off the list. Aghasyan gave the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) as an example. The bird used to be uncommon, which is why it was put in the Red Book.
Its populations on Lake Sevan have now grown significantly. According to Aghasyan, the great cormorant may even cause problems for fish farming today. The report gives no exact numbers.
The otter, protected areas and money
The Center’s specialists are already studying species in the Red Book. One of them is the Eurasian otter, on which they have collected data. Aghasyan says WWF-Armenia, funded by the German development bank, runs a large programme on biodiversity and protected areas, and work on updating the Red Book is also planned within it.
Preparing the book needs about 80 million drams a year, for mapping, gathering material, field surveys and expeditions. Whether a species goes into the book is decided by the relevant professional commission.
Aghasyan says protecting a species is not only a matter of listing it in the Red Book; its habitat must be protected too. Current analyses show that about 60% of Armenia’s species are covered by the system of protected areas. Protected areas take up about 13.1% of the country. Jermuk and Tatev national parks are also planned.
What we know and what we don’t
Confirmed: the Center has submitted a project to update the Red Book. The current book dates from 2010 and covers 308 species. According to Aghasyan, the Urartian ratsnake is planned for inclusion and the great cormorant may be removed.
Not yet known: whether the project will be approved; when the work will start; what category the Urartian ratsnake will receive in Armenia. The final decision rests with the professional commission. If the project is approved, the work will take about five years.
