By Herp News
STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Authorities say a Connecticut man shot to death his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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Connecticut man accused of shooting pet turtle
Turtle Creek Man Dies After Trying To Break Up Domestic Dispute
By Herp News
A Turtle Creek man died after being struck in the head while trying to break up a domestic fight between his neighbors this weekend.
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Infrared Camera Catches Keys Sea Turtle Hatchlings
By Herp News
Infrared camera catches loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings emerging from nest in Fla Keys
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Connecticut man accused of shooting girlfriend's pet turtle
By Herp News
Stonington, Conn. — Authorities say a Connecticut man shot to death his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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Short-eared dog? Uncovering the secrets of one of the Amazon’s most mysterious mammals
By Herp News
Fifteen years ago, scientists knew next to nothing about one of the Amazon’s most mysterious residents: the short-eared dog. Although the species was first described in 1883 and is considered the sole representative of the Atelocynus genus, biologists spent over a century largely in the dark about an animal that seemed almost a myth.
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Connecticut man charged with shooting girlfriend's pet turtle
By Herp News
A 31-year-old Stonington man has been charged with cruelty to animals after police say he shot and killed his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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Turtle & Hughes Boosts Business Efficiency With Infor Distribution SX.e
By Herp News
Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70,000 customers, today announced that Turtle & Hughes, a leading distributor of electrical and industrial equipment, has successfully …
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Tortoise Rescue to parents: Real turtles aren't 'Mutant Ninjas'
American Tortoise Rescue is asking parents not to let their kids get pet turtles just because they love the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
From Today Parents:
Hundreds of thousands of live turtles were purchased after each of the previous movies in the franchise, with many later dumped, deliberately killed or flushed down the toilet, the group said on its website. It estimates 90 percent of the animals died.
“We’re asking you to save a turtle’s life and perhaps even your child’s,” co-founders Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson write in an open letter to parents.
Previous film versions of the lovable “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” story have led to thousands of pet turtles being purchased and ultimately abandoned or killed.
“Unfortunately, children do not realize that real turtles do not fly, perform stunts or do any of the exciting moves fictional movie turtles do. Parents, trying to please their children, purchased live turtles which ended up languishing in tanks.”
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North Florida Reptile Farm Supplies Global Market
By Herp News
Less than a mile from downtown Newberry, hidden almost in plain sight, sits a group of unmarked gray warehouse buildings that contain either endless wonders or the stuff of nightmares, depending on how you feel about snakes.
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Malaysia hunts 2 Filipinos for smuggle try of turtle eggs
By Herp News
Malaysian marine police foiled an alleged attempt to smuggle turtle eggs into Sabah by two Filipinos last Friday, the Star online reported.
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Tortoise Suspected of Helping Baby Alligator Flee the Zoo
By Herp News
A baby alligator named Carlos has broken out of a Michigan zoo, thanks to a large tortoise that regularly strolls around the area. Gary Moore, who runs the GarLyn Zoo in Mackinac County, suspects that the 12-inch hatchling was able to sneak under the double fence because the tortoise wore the dirt away from the bottom of the railing.
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Rehabilitated turtle from NJ released in Md. – NBC40.net
By Herp News
BERLIN, Md. (AP) – A sea turtle that was rehabilitated in Maryland after being found stunned by the cold in New Jersey has been returned to its natural habitat.
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Keys Turtle Cam Watchers See Hatch Live
By Herp News
Web-watchers were able to see about 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles hatch via a live-streaming, high definition camera.
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Giant tortoise rescued from Northern California brush fire
By Herp News
“Abe” survived overnight in a tank firefighters put him in as wildfire destroyed everything around it. pic.twitter.com/w5xlpPKm7d AMADOR COUNTY, Calif. —A 200-pound tortoise was rescued from a wildfire that destroyed much of an Amador County resort.
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Let a reptile slither into your heart
By Herp News
They aren't at the level of cats and dogs yet, but reptiles are scaling upward in popularity.
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Repticon Brings Its 1-Day Reptile Event to Lafayette
By Herp News
Repticon, a promoter of nationwide reptile and exotic animal expos, re-introduces it special 1-day-only event, ReptiDay. The event will bring the same unique blend of vendors, breeders, and educators to the Ramada Lafayette Conference Center on August 23. The expo offers hundreds of reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, spiders, and small exotic animals to area enthusiasts. Top breeders and …
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Crafty, egg-stealing lizard could cause environmental crisis
By Herp News
A black-and-white striped bandit from South America has invaded the habitat of threatened and endangered Florida wildlife, according to UF researchers.
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Tiny new species of frog from Brazil with a heroic name
By Herp News
Molecular analysis helps scientists discover and describe a tiny new species of narrow-mouthed frog from the genus Chiasmocleis. The news species, Chiasmocleis quilombola is named after the quilombos — communities constituted by and used as refuges for slaves who had the brevity to escape in colonial Brazil.
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Helping save narrow-headed gartersnakes from after-effects of Slide Fire
By Herp News
As a result of the Slide Fire, the burned areas of Oak Creek were at risk for ash-filled flooding due to monsoon rains. When ash blankets the habitat, the fish that the gartersnakes feed on aren’t able to survive. The ash covers rocks and small holes making it difficult for the snake to hide while hunting. Though the snakes can survive for some time without food, they will eventually starve to death. Now a team has undertaken to save the narrow-headed gartersnake in the fire’s aftermath.
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Breaking: Teens who tortured and killed tortoise in viral video arrested, face felony charges
Breaking news from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission:
The two teenage girls responsible for the viral video of them torturing a gopher tortoise have been arrested today. Thanks to your concern and tips, Danielle Susan Dionne, 15, and Jennifer Emoke Greene, 18, have been arrested on charges of felony cruelty to animals, a third-degree felony.
They were also charged with a second-degree misdemeanor: taking, harassing, harming or killing a gopher tortoise.
The FWC worked with the State Attorney’s Office of the Fourth Judicial Circuit to decide the appropriate charges related to the crime. State Attorney Angela Corey said, “We are committed to fully prosecuting those responsible for the torture and death of this vulnerable and threatened species.”
The video, which is highly disturbing, can be viewed on the FWC’s Facebook page.
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Russia Has A Lizard Sex Satellite, But They’ve Lost Control Of It
By Herp News
Horny geckos are spiraling through outer space on a fantastic voyage that may never end.
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Herp Video of the Week: Bullfrog Calling!
Check out this video “Bullfrog Calling,” submitted by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users! …read more
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Carlos Gomez videobombs Mark Reynolds in Ninja Turtle costume
By Herp News
Gomez bought it to surprise his son, but took it to the ballpark first.
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WorldViews: There is a lizard sex satellite floating in space and Russia no longer has it under control
By Herp News
The lusty geckos will have plenty of time alone.
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Loggerhead sea turtle nest numbers down in Horry, Georgetown counties
By Herp News
Myrtle Beach State Park ranger Ann Malys Wilson isn’t worried about a quiet sea turtle season – which ends in August – following a record year in 2013.
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Loggerhead nesting down after record years
By Herp News
It's not the year of the turtle. Only half as many sea turtle nests as usual have been laid at Cape Island, which usually holds one-third of the nests laid from North Carolina through Georgia. The rest of the coast is no better. But wildlife biologists say an “off” year was expected.
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Alaska frogs reach record lows in extreme temperature survival
By Herp News
“Alaska wood frogs spend more time freezing and thawing outside than a steak does in your freezer, and the frog comes back to life in the spring in better shape than the steak,” said the lead author on a recent paper demonstrating that freeze tolerance in Alaska wood frogs is more extreme than previously thought.
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It’s not just extinction: meet defaunation
By Herp News
Get ready to learn a new word: defaunation. Fauna is the total collection of animals—both in terms of species diversity and abundance—in a given area. So, defaunation, much like deforestation, means the loss of animals in all its myriad forms, including extinction, extirpation, or population declines.
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Look what the stork brought to the London Zoo
The very first Philippine crocodiles to be bred in Britain made their debut at the London Zoo.
From the Orange News:
The six new-born critically-endangered crocs – born over a 48 hour period – are among the world’s rarest reptiles.
As they are native only to the Philippines the baby crocodiles were named after the islands they typically inhabit; Jolo, Luzon, Mindoro, Samar, Sulo, and Mindanao.
It is hoped that their arrival will help to boost the numbers of the species which has been hit by habitat loss and hunting for their skins.
The parent crocodiles. which play a significant role in the European breeding programme for the species, were born at a conservation centre in the Philippines.
Deputy Head of the Reptile House, Iri Gill, said: “The arrival of these six Philippine crocodiles at ZSL London Zoo is a massive cause for celebration for us, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”
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Lush Cosmetics launches bid to protect pangolins
By Herp News
Lush Cosmetics has agreed to support an effort to battle trafficking of the Sunda pangolin.
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Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. Announces Release of Second Quarter Reports for Closed-End Funds (NDP, NTG, TPZ, TTP …
By Herp News
Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. announced today the release of 2014 semi-annual stockholders' reports for each of NDP, NTG, TPZ, TTP and TYG, as well as TYY and TYN, which merged
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Turtle Beach to Report Second Quarter Financial Results on August 11, 2014
By Herp News
SAN DIEGO, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today announced that it will report second quarter 2014 financial results after the market close on August 11, 2014. On …
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Rare bird paradise protected in war-torn Colombian mountain range (photos)
By Herp News
A coalition of conservation groups have established a new protected area in one of Latin America’s most neglected ecosystems: the Colombian-side of the Serranía de Perijá mountain range. Following decades of bloody conflict and rampant deforestation, experts say only five percent of rainforest is left on the Colombian side of this embattled mountain range.
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Alligator on the lam in Wisconsin
A 4-foot alligator was rounded up near Wisconsin’s Sheboygan River.
From the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:
A team of sheriff’s deputies and Sheboygan police officers corralled and snared the snarling reptile in a ditch near the Sheboygan River after a brief search that started in the 2700 block of Indiana Ave. in the city of Sheboygan, Sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Spence said Sunday.
The sheriff’s office received a call around 10:30 a.m. Sunday of an alligator sighting in that block, east of S. Taylor Drive, Spence said.
After the gator’s snout was taped shut for the officers’ safety, the animal was turned over to a conservation warden with the state Department of Natural Resources, according to Spence.
Photo: Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office …read more
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Rescued pawikan with neck, head wounds dies
By Herp News
CEBU – A 30-year-old hawksbill turtle found wounded in Barangay Bato in Toledo City died at the University of San Carlos Marine Research Station in Lapu-Lapu City on Tuesday.
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Monkeys use field scientists as human shields against predators
By Herp News
If you’re monkey—say a samango monkey in South Africa—probably the last thing you want is to be torn apart and eaten by a leopard or a caracal. In fact, you probably spend a lot of time and energy working to avoid such a grisly fate. Well, now there’s a simpler way: just stick close to human researchers.
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How climate change impacts reptiles in the wild – and what to do about it
As temperatures in their native ranges change, male reptiles may need to disperse to survive. That’s according to a study published in the journal BMC Ecology.
From BBC Nature News:
Alligators, some turtles, and the tuatara – found only in New Zealand – all produce offspring whose gender is determined by temperature.
These species are considered to be especially vulnerable to climate warming, because at higher temperatures they produce only one sex.
Previous studies have suggested that the best way for reptiles to respond is to alter the temperature of their nest by seeking shaded areas, digging deeper nests and nesting earlier in the season.
But the authors say their study is the first to demonstrate that dispersal by the sex that occurs least in a population may be just as important, if not more so, in compensating for the effects of climate change.
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KCFD crews rescue pet lizard, cat in house fire
By Herp News
A pet lizard and the family cat are safe this morning in Taft after being rescued by the Kern County Fire Department from a house fire on Saturday.
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A Look Inside Japan's Reptile Cafes
By Herp News
So far, Kotaku has introduced an array of animal cafes in Japan: cat cafes , black cat cafes , owl cafes , bunny cafes , squirrel gardens and even penguin bars . Now, check out the country's reptile cafes. Read more…
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Science and art bring back to life 300-million-year-old specimens of a primitive reptile-like vertebrate
By Herp News
Paleontologists have recreated the cranial structure of a 308-million-year-old lizard-like vertebrate that could be the earliest example of a reptile and explain the origin of all vertebrates that belong to reptiles, birds and mammals.
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