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A new analysis of a decade-long collection of wildlife rescue records in NSW has delivered new insights into how humans and reptiles interact in urban environments.

Researchers from Macquarie University worked with scientists from Charles Darwin University, and the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to analyze over 37,000 records of snake and lizard rescues in the Greater Sydney region between 2011 and 2021.

Their study, titled "Interactions between reptiles and people: a perspective from wildlife rehabilitation records," is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Lead author Teagan Pyne, a Masters of Conservation Biology graduate at Macquarie University, says the data has enabled her team to collate a unique set of perspectives on human-wildlife interactions in urban areas.

"The paper highlights how wildlife rescue patterns reflect public perceptions of different animals," she says. "The larger reptiles grab people's attention, because of fear or because they are considered a nuisance, unlike wild mammals or birds which are typically rescued when they are injured," says Pyne.

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