By Herp News
The Chinese government announced today that it will ‘eventually’ shut down its legal domestic ivory market. The move, which surprised conservationists, could provide a major boost in efforts to stop the mass killing of elephants for their ivory.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
A female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) — potentially the last female of her species — has been artificially inseminated. The procedure, which brought together top scientists from China, Australia and the United States, provides a ray of hope in a continuing effort to save the world’s most endangered turtle.
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In all the time I’ve been writing for kingsnake.com, most of my posts have been about Indian snakes. It’s like I’ve forgotten there are other reptiles and amphibians that also exist in India. So here are some thoughts on the most common monitor lizard of India.
The Indian or Bengal monitor, Varanus bengalensis, is a monitor lizard found widely distributed over the Indian subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial and grows to about 175 cm from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. The juveniles are more colorful with dotted bands, but as they grow the color of the body is grey or light brown.
It is been said that a monitor lizard has a very powerful grip with claws and there is a story sys that a legendary warrior and his group of soldiers climbed a fort with the support of a monitor lizard and rope.
In India, monitors are hunted for their meat, especially in rural areas. It is believed by these villagers that monitor lizard meat helps to prevent joint pain. For me, it is always a sad thing seeing these reptiles getting killed, and I am doing my best to protect them by making people aware of these magnificient creatures, and I’m sure a change is coming!
Photo: Riyaz Khoja
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It’s the weekend and what better excuse to hang with your friends, just like the rhino iguana in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user spotsowner!
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By Herp News
No one knows what’s killing them, but scientists estimate that almost half of the world’s saiga (Saiga tatarica) have perished since May 10th. To date, researchers on-the-ground unofficially estimate that 120,000 saiga have died in Kazakhstan from what appears to be a wildly virulent disease, although no cause has been ruled out.
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Reduced in size and flow during a drought, at the bridge where we stood the river was still about 30 feet wide and looked to be cool and fairly deep with even deeper holes. Kenny and I were watching some very wary diamond-backed water snakes that were using some cracks in the bridge abutment as hideaways when a turtle head broke the water surface, spied us, reversed, and sped to the bottom.
Texas cooter? No. But it was definitely an emydine, not a mud turtle.
After checking the various range maps, it seemed that there was only one other choice – a Texas map turtle, Graptemys versa. Suddenly the sighting took on new importance for this was a species with which neither of us was overly familiar.
So we stood quietly and patiently and watched the water slowly pass by. No turtle.
We admitted defeat and clambered back to the roadway. Before returning to the car we glanced once over the edge of the bridge and there, below us, swam the turtle. Correction: swam 2 turtles.
They were Texas map turtles, a small male and a larger female, and they were courting.
Picture taking time! Whoops, our cameras were still in the car. Of course.
Where else would they be when needed?
Continue reading “Two Texas map turtles and not one camera” …read more
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The Windsor-Essex Humane Society is decrying a violent attack on a northern watersnake, and asking the incident be taken as seriously as abuse against any other type of animal.
From the CBC:
Coulter said the Humane Society consulted a snake expert who said the snake died at the hands of a human and not another animal. She also said rocks didn’t simply fall on the snake and kill it.
“It’s a concern because, just because she’s not a dog or cat doesn’t mean she didn’t suffer. She was attacked and left there to die,” Coulter said. “If this was a dog or cat pelted with rocks and left to die, everyone would be horrified.
“While snakes may not be everyone’s favourite animal, they are a part of our ecosystem and can suffer like any other animal.”
Read more here.
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This pair of horned lizards (aka horny toads) are just chilling like a pair of villians on their rock in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user radar357!
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Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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By Herp News
HEC, otherwise known as human elephant conflict, is a centuries-old problem responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of elephants. This ongoing battle between African farmers trying to grow crops and hungry elephants foraging for a meal, has motivated conservationists to find solutions for protecting the largest and one of the most intelligent land animals on the planet. Scientists’ most recent effort — Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), frisbee-sized remote controlled quad-helicopters — may provide the answer that researchers have been looking for.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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A veteran was reunited with Ba Cu, a Vietnamese pond turtle he rescued nearly 50 years ago and the oldest known example of her species.
From the Columbus Dispatch:
On Thursday, Lowery and Ba Cu met again in a visit arranged by zoo officials in honor of Memorial Day. Though Lowery, now 72, lives in Pickerington, he doesn’t often visit the zoo, he said, so he was glad to see the turtle.
“She sets a record every day,” he said.
Before he was drafted, Lowery had been studying to be a zookeeper and worked at the zoo’s reptile house.
In addition to the turtle, he sent back snakes and small mammals that he thought the zoo would be interested in. First, he had to persuade Vietnamese wildlife officials to let him take the animals, then he boxed them up and sent them to the U.S. on Pan American World Airways.
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CHOW TIME! This female Parson’s chameleon is just about to grab a bite to eat in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rocknreptiles!
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By Herp News
The panther chameleon, a lizard prized in the pet trade for its remarkable color changing abilities, may actually represent 11 different species, report researchers writing in the journal Molecular Ecology. Analyzing the genetics of more than 300 individual panther chameleons, Swiss and Malagasy researchers make a case that different color morphs of Furcifer pardalis may be distinct species.
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By Herp News
A coalition has launched an initiative, the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge to spark and drive investment in innovative science and technology solutions to help reduce the damage caused by wildlife trafficking. The initiative is backed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, and TRAFFIC.
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By Herp News
Mozambique has lost nearly half of its elephants to relentless, brutal, and highly-organized poaching in just five years, according to a new government survey. In 2010, the country was home to an estimated 20,000 pachyderms, today it houses just 10,300.
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By Herp News
A new survey in Nepal counted 645 one-horned rhinos, up from 375 animals ten years ago and 534 animals in 2011. This represent a rise of 72 percent over the last ten years, an impressive feat given that the world’s rhinos are facing a savage poaching crisis.
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By Herp News
Like many pests, cane toads are killed in their thousands in Australia every year, especially by community-based ‘toad-busting’ groups. New research has now revealed the most humane way to do it.
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Missouri school children will be using stuffed animals and telemetry data to learn about box turtles.
From the KPLR News:
Monday evening more than 200 grade school students will track soft plush box turtles to better understand their ecosystem.
‘We’ll have some of those plush turtles that have those telemetry devices so the kids will take their parents out and track them which we’ll have hidden at the zoo,’ says Dean.
They’ll be using radio telemetry technology to help the state reptile of Missouri.
Read more here.
Photo by kingsnake.com user jeffb. …read more
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There’s just that something about a green snake! Whether they are of the comparative chunkiness of a tree viper or the slender build of a rat snake, it seems that snakes of green color are hobbyist favorites.
The racer-thin, rodent and bird eating, red-tailed green rat snake, Gonyosoma oxycephala (this snake also occurs in less popular blue-gray and reddish-brown phases) is one of the latter, an aptly named arboreal beauty. Adult at 6 to 7 feet in length, occasional examples can exceed 8 feet. Females are often the larger sex.
Although this large and beautiful Southeast Asian snake is occasionally bred in captivity, many that become available are wild caught imports. If freshly collected before importation, survival rate may be termed “fair.” But if held at a collection facility for days or even weeks (as is often the case) stress, dehydration, and endoparasites will have weakened the snakes rendering them difficult to acclimate.
Although I seldom advocate routine purging of endoparasites, I have found that it does seem to benefit the newly imported examples of this taxon.
Captive hatched examples are often as feistily defensive as the adults. With a bit of teasing, hatchlings will accept pinky mice from forceps. Be aware that as an arboreal species, examples of all sizes may be reluctant to drink from a water dish. This reluctance can usually be overcome by placing an aquarium air stone (attached to a small vibrator pump) in the water and/or elevating the water dish to perch level.
This taxon is not for all hobbyists, but for those having interest, they are well worth the extra effort that is often required.
Continue reading “An arboreal beauty: the green tailed rat snake” …read more
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Climbing to greet the morning is this beautiful green tree monitor in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user roadspawn!
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By Herp News
60 captive-raised Myanmar roofed turtles—a species once thought extinct—have been released into their native habitat in Myanmar, conservationists report. The Myanmar roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata) was believed extinct until 2001, when two researchers found a single shell from a recently killed turtle at a village along the Dokhtawady River. Subsequently, live individuals were discovered at a wildlife market in China and in the ponds of a pagoda in Mandalay. These turtles formed the nucleus of the captive assurance colony which was established.
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By Herp News
The original snake ancestor was a nocturnal, stealth-hunting predator that had tiny hindlimbs with ankles and toes, according to new research. Snakes show incredible diversity, with over 3,400 living species found in a wide range of habitats, such as land, water and in trees. But little is known about where and when they evolved, and how their original ancestor looked and behaved.
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By Herp News
Pets can pass diseases to humans, especially when a pet owner’s immune system is compromised. Here, veterinarians outline ways for families to avoid disease transmission by choosing the right type of pet–or making small changes in the ways they enjoy the pets they already have.
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By Herp News
A team of Chilean scientists discover two new species of iguanid lizards from the Laja Lagoon, Chile. The two new species are believed to have been long confused with other representatives of the elongatus-kriegi lizard complex, before recent morphological and genetic analysis diagnosed them as separate.
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By Herp News
It turns out sea turtles, even at a tender 6-18 months of age, are very active swimmers. They don’t just passively drift in ocean currents as researchers once thought. Researchers say it’s an important new clue in the sea turtle ‘lost years’ mystery. Where exactly turtles travel in their first years of life, before returning to coastal areas as adults to forage and reproduce, has puzzled scientists for decades.
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By Herp News
Frogs may flee from a ground predator and move towards an aerial predator, undercutting the flight path.
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By Herp News
Fifty miles out to sea from San Diego, in the middle of April, under a perfectly clear blue sky, fisheries scientists leaned over the side of a rubber inflatable boat and lowered a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle into the water. That turtle was a trailblazer — the first of its kind ever released off the West Coast of the United States with a satellite transmitter attached.
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By Herp News
It seems unnatural that a species could survive without having sex. Yet over the ages, evolution has endowed females of certain species of amphibians, reptiles and fish with the ability to clone themselves, and perpetuate offspring without males. Researchers have found that in species where females have evolved the ability to reproduce without males relatively recently, fertilization is still ensuring the survival of the maximum number of healthy offspring and thus males are still needed.
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By Herp News
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake has lost 97 percent of its habitat since Europeans first arrived in America. New research demonstrates the critical nature of one element of the diamondback’s home range, pine savanna. For conservationists seeking surrogate habitats for the now-rare species’ dwindling population, the results underscore the need for prescribed fire management to maintain the open-canopy forest and its ecosystem.
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By Herp News
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in food storage products and resins that line plastic beverage containers. Often, aquatic environments become reservoirs for BPA, and turtle habitats are affected. Now, a collaboration of researchers has determined that BPA can alter a turtle’s sexual differentiation. Scientists are concerned findings could indicate harmful effects on environmental and human health.
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Here I come with my first amphibian blog post!
India is home to good number of amphibians, including frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians. Toads and frogs are found in every part of India, whether it’s a city or a jungle, and according to me they are the cutest cold blooded creatures on earth.
I have been catching frogs and toads since I learned to walk and grab things. I find them really cute and the reason is their face; it always appears a smiling and a happy face. I was always the odd man among my friends because whenever and wherever I used to see a toad I would pick it up, and my friends found it really disgusting.
The Malabar gliding frog, Rhacophorus malabaricus, is my favorite frog amongst the Indian frogs, because of its gliding jumps and green color. This frog has a body length of about 10 cm, making it one of the largest moss frog. The color is vivid green without markings and the belly or underside is pale yellow. The webbings between fingers and toes is large and orange-red.
The Malabar gliding frog is common in the western ghats of India. My first meeting with this frog was really surprising; I was herping for Malabar pit vipers at night and I found a few, so I decided to search for some of these frogs. For 10-15 minutes I couldn’t find anything and I sat on a rock for a break. As I was removing my head torch, I felt something sitting on it, I just grabbed it gently and saw it was a Malabar gliding frog I wasn’t aware of it sitting on my head torch. An unforgettable meeting.
Photo: Roland zh. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. …read more
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On a trip to New Zealand, Prince Harry met a Tuatara lizard named Harry who is over 100 years old.
From the Sunday Express:
The royal came face to face with a Tuatara lizard, also named Harry, during a welcome ceremony in the city of Invercargill.
The Prince came up close and personal with the 100-year-old reptile as it settled on his arm.
The Tuatara is only found in New Zealand where it is revered in native Maori culture as a messenger of the gods.
It was back to business as usual afterwards as Prince Harry then faced a crowd of screaming female fans – one of whom even managed to plant a kiss on the Royal.
Read more here. …read more
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Despite their reputation of being angry, the beauty of a Tokay gecko puts it front and center in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user stingray!
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Okay, so today is Turtle Day. About 7 months ago while I was randomly walking around the city, I fell upon a pet shop, I went in just to have a look. And saw this tank full of baby red eared sliders, and being as impulsive as I am i decided to get one. Come on they are turtles how hard can it be right? Boy was I wrong. So I got this tiny green thing, it was cute as hell. As I work most of the time, I thought my baby might get lonely so a week later I got another one, this one was quite shy. Anyway thus starts my turtle story. Ai my first is a feisty little thing fearless it would swim right up to me. Where as Noa is a bit more shy and it took him/her (not sure yet) a long time to get used to me. Everything was perfectly fine as long as they were tiny alas that isn’t how things work. They started growing, and so I had to get them a bigger place to live. And it also meant I had to clean the tank which takes about 3 to 4 hrs every week. But hey, I love my babies and I would do anything to make them happy. …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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By Herp News
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake has lost 97 percent of its habitat since becoming an American icon on the Revolutionary-era ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag. New research demonstrates the critical nature of one element of the diamondback’s home range, pine savanna. For conservationists seeking surrogate habitats for the now-rare species’ dwindling population, the results underscore the need for prescribed fire management to maintain the open-canopy forest and its ecosystem.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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USARK and its lawyers worked at a frantic pace to get a nationwide preliminary injunction (PI) for every single responsible reptile keeper in the continental United States since the recent USFWS Lacey Act listing of reticulated pythons and three species of anacondas.
We submitted multiple legal briefs/memoranda to, and had several hearings before, the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Hundreds of hours from numerous individuals have been invested. I am not sure when Phil Goss sleeps!
A PI is an extraordinary legal remedy that is only granted upon satisfying extremely stringent legal requirements. For example, USARK had to establish that its members would suffer irreparable harm without a PI and it is likely to prevail on the merits (when the court eventually hears the main case).
The law also requires the judge to grant a PI as narrow as possible. Because there is no full blown adversary process at the PI stage, the judge essentially assumes that the facts provided by USFWS are accurate for purposes of ruling on the PI. All of these strict legal principles and requirements are why you rarely see a PI granted, especially one on a nationwide basis enjoining enforcement of an environmental law.
Preliminary Injunction Granted
Against all odds, the judge ordered a nationwide PI “with respect to transportation by any Plaintiff or USARK member of the reticulated python and/or green anaconda” (1) out of any of the 49 continental United States, and (2) into all of those states except for Florida and Texas.
Questions and Limitations on Preliminary Injunction
When will the PI be effective?
June 2, 2015, unless USFWS appeals to the Federal Circuit Court and a stay of the PI is granted by the Federal Circuit Court before June 2, 2015. USFWS stated it would take them about 75 days to make a decision on such an appeal.
Does the PI allow every reptile keeper in the continental United States to ship/transport green anacondas and reticulated pythons across state lines?
At the last minute, USFWS made numerous arguments to try to restrict the scope of shipments. In response to USFWS arguments and to protect the PI ruling if appealed, the judge ruled that the PI allows transportation/shipment by anyone who was a member of USARK as of April 8, 2015.
A nationwide injunction for every reptile keeper, including shipments into Florida and Texas, will be issued if/when the judge rules favorably on the interstate transportation issue as part of the main case. Since the judge has already ruled during the PI stage of the case that USARK is likely to prevail on the interstate transportation issue on the merits, it is likely that such an injunction will be granted.
How do I determine my status/qualification for USARK membership?
ALL questions regarding …read more
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If you are a hardcore fan of tree snakes, then I would suggest you put herping India on your to-do list. India is the place where you can find 50-60 species of tree snakes. Most of the tree snakes are from the family of Pit Vipers, Bronzeback Tree snakes, Vine snakes and Cat snakes. In India you can find 14-15 species of cat snakes, I would rather say that this is the second largest family of any snake in India after the pit vipers which has 18 species.
The Ceylon cat snake, Boiga ceylonensis, is one of my favourite snakes. I love the way they recoil, and their thin and long body mesmerizes me.
This snake has an attractive color pattern that makes it shine sometimes like gold during early morning sunrise. Ceylon cat snakes are greyish-brown with dark brown spots or stripes, a brown diagonal streak is present behind the eye. The maximum length is 130 cm and it is oviparous by nature.
Finding this snake in the jungle during early morning was something unforgettable. It was something more than finding “gold.”
Photo: Riyaz Khoja …read more
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You think getting your kids to brush their teeth is hard, imagine doing it with a croc! Check out the dental care given to Jaws over at Madras Croc Bank in India in our Herp Video of the Week.
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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By Herp News
The next time you order that “wake up” cup of Joe or reach for a sweet treat, you may want to consider whether those coffee or cocoa beans were grown in the shade or open sun. Choosing the shade grown variety can offer huge benefits to tropical birds, their ecosystems and farmers says a new study by Cagan Şekercioğlu published in the Journal of Ornithology.
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Black-tailed prairie dog burrows scar the landscape. Stop for a moment while driving through Wind Cave National Wildlife Refuge in the Black Hills during the hours of daylight and a dozen or more prairie dogs will come running in hope of a handout.
Look both ways before you begin driving again because a curious bison just might be standing in front of your vehicle. But things are quieter at night. Bison drift away from the road to bunk down on the open prairie. The prairie dogs are all snoozing in their burrows. As a great horned owl flies over on silent wings, a summering burrowing owl ducks into a prairie dog burrow for safety.
But what is that tiny head emerging from the next prairie dog burrow? It’s a salamander – a blotched tiger salamander, Ambystoma mavortium melanostictum! And we were to learn that the use of these havens by the salamanders was not at all uncommon.
The blotched tiger salamander attains a robust 6 to 11 inches in total length. Some examples have a well-defined reticulum of black against the predominating olive-yellow to olive-green, while others are less precisely patterned.
Neoteny is well documented, and it is this subspecies that is often offered for sale as “waterdogs” in the pet trade. Captive conditions usually cause waterdogs to metamorphose so be ready to change its housing from aquarium to terrarium.
But, whether adult or larva, this is a hardy salamander that often survives for more than a decade as a captive and that is easily fed on pelleted salamander food and/or earthworms.
Continue reading “Burrow borrowers: the blotched tiger salamander” …read more
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A newly approved rattlesnake antivenom is being tested in Arizona.
From KVOA.com:
The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson and the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix will be conducting a study to find the most effective way to use the two antivenoms.
“Arizona has the largest diversity of rattlesnake bites in the country and what we see in all these rattlesnake bites is an incredible diversity of patients and the kind of effects we see in the rattlesnakes themselves,” said Keith Boesen, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center.
Every year, there are between 250 to 350 rattlesnake bites in Arizona. Many of the victims credit antivenom for saving their lives.
Read more here. …read more
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