By Herp News

Marine biologists at the South Carolina Aquarium are treating a rare, 475-pound leatherback sea turtle that washed up Saturday on a nearby beach.

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By Herp News

What do hunters and birdwatchers have in common? Both groups are much more likely to support conservation than the average rural American, according to new research published in the Journal of Wildlife Management.

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Home to some of the rarest crocodile species, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust is fundraising to bolster their work.

From the New Indian Express:

Meanwhile, even as it is struggling to raise the money needed for undertaking its initiatives, the facility also has to rebuild a portion of it which would be affected by the ongoing road widening work.

“The front counter and the entrance office will go. So we are planning to revamp the frontage and three exhibits near the entrance first,” said Zahida.

The MCBT and Center for Herpetology was started in 1976 by Herpetologist and reptile conservationist Romulus Earl Whitaker, and was the first crocodile breeding centre in Asia, set up to save the dwindling crocodile population and preserve snakes.

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Sassy as babies, sassy as adults! This roaring baby snapping turtle is our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user makonai777!

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California’s flat-tailed horned lizard is a candidate for endangered species protection, and further research may give it permanent protected status.

From the Yuma Sun:

“From our perspective the most important thing is now the state is going to have to be consulted on for any development that happens within the flat-tailed horned lizard habitat,” she said.

There is dispute over whether the species is in fact declining, and how many live in the dunes. A biologist with the Bureau of Land Management, Larry LePre, told the Yuma Sun in December the dunes aren’t prime habitat since they don’t have many of the harvester ants which are the basis of the lizards’ diet, and there’s no reliable data to suggest they’re going up or down in numbers, mostly because they’re difficult to detect.

The BLM, which maintains the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, is part of a joint Rangewide Management Strategy for the species covering almost 500 acres in California and Arizona. The center’s petition contends this is inadequate since most of the land is open to off-road vehicle use.

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Many, many, years ago when I first saw a photo of Elaphe situla (now Zamenis situla) I did a double take. Although it was captioned “Leopard Rat Snake,” at first glance (and even at second glance) it sure looked like a corn snake.

Eventually I was lucky enough to see a leopard rat snake and to learn there are two distinctly different patterns, a saddled and a striped. Later still, I acquired a pair of each phase and bred the taxon. I learned that despite the similarity of the saddled phase to our corn snake the slender, Old World, leopard rat snake was and is quite unlike the New World species.

Please allow me to introduce you.

First, although often referred to as a European taxon, the leopard rat snake is actually Eurasian in distribution. This snake has a ground color of warm brown to gray and, depending on the phase, either a pair of dark-edged red stripes or neck-to-tail irregular dark bordered red saddles.

Both phases have a row of prominent black spots along each side. A dark interocular crescent is present as are other dark markings on neck and face. The venter varies from being nearly solid black to being light with black checkers. This scrubland snake is adult at a slender 2 to 3 feet in length.

I was told that captive bred examples will feed readily on suitably sized lab mice. Those I had, though, were wild caught and refused lab mice, but readily accepted wild mice of the genus Peromyscus (white-footed and cotton mice). To comply with their tastes we began a breeding program of the desired mouse species. This was a bit time consuming but proved well worth the effort. The snakes thrived, bred, and as I had been told the hatchlings did indeed feed readily on pinky lab mice.
Continue reading “Looks can be deceiving when it comes to the leopard rat snake” …read more
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This great looking pair of Australian water dragons helps us feel a little closer to spring in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!

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By Herp News

A squat lizard with dragon-like head spines won a temporary reprieve from encroachment by urban development and alternative energy facilities on Thursday when California’s Fish and Game Commission declared it a candidate for protection under the state Endangered Species Act.

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By Herp News

Solstice, an endangered olive ridley sea turtle, arrived at SeaWorld San Diego on Tuesday after a trip on a Coast Guard aircraft from Oregon to Coronado.

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Reptile rescues need the community’s support now more than ever. With the recent addition of the the reticulated python and all species of anaconda to the injurious species list, rescues will lose a large adoption and placement pool.

I have operated my rescue for 21 years now, and for much of that time I have relied on my friends to the south to assist when I had giant species. Depending on what I have in the rescue at any given time, I may need to call upon my Illinois friends to take even a large boa constrictor. Thankfully, I still have that outlet for boas, but at the end of our 30-day grace period, I will lose that ability with retics and all anacondas. Crossing state lines with those species will no longer be legal, and working with my partners in Illinois would make me an instant felon. I am not alone in this; there are rescues across the country that will need assistance from our community.

As the community rallies behind USARK in the upcoming battle to remove these species from the list, it would be wonderful if those of you who have the ability to own one of the restricted species would take this moment and reach out.

Contact your local herp society, which undoubtably runs a rescue program, as well as local reptile rescues to let them know you are willing to help.

Need help locating a rescue near you? Please post in the comments or check out our rescue listing located here. …read more
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By Herp News

Via Daily Picks and Flicks If you think about it, we’re all just a tortoise named Herman locked in a box in the refrigerator.

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By Herp News

You wake up at 4:30 AM, a little before the first rays of tropical sun begin to dance behind the treetops. You put on your wet clothes from the previous day, pack your bag, and pick up your tripod. The jungle is shrouded in a thick mist from the previous nights rain. As you walk, you recognize many of the strange calls that echo between the trees.

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By Herp News

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A rare leatherback sea turtle, nicknamed Yawkey and weighing an estimated 500 pounds, was being treated at the South Carolina Aquarium on Monday after being rescued on a remote coastal beach – the first leatherback known to have been stranded alive in South Carolina.

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By Herp News

A rare leatherback sea turtle weighing 500 pounds is being treated at the South Carolina Aquarium after being rescued from a remote island over the weekend.

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By Herp News

By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – An endangered 500-pound (230-kg) leatherback sea turtle was being treated at a South Carolina aquarium on Monday after wildlife officials made a rare rescue of the reptile found alive and stranded on a remote beach. It is the first living leatherback turtle to be recovered in South Carolina and one of only a handful ever treated at rehabilitation …

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By Herp News

There is a growing consensus among scientists that we have entered the age of the Anthropocene, or the epoch of humans. In other words, at some point between the 12,000 years separating the beginning of agriculture and the Industrial Revolution, humans became the dominant source of change on the planet, shaping everything from the land to the atmosphere to even the geologic record where we etch our reign.

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By Herp News

A squat lizard with dragon-like head spines won a temporary reprieve from encroachment by urban development and alternative energy facilities on Thursday when California’s Fish and Game Commission declared it a candidate for protection under the state Endangered Species Act.

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Growing up in the Deep South, I heard all sorts of incredible tales regarding snakes.

One of the more famous stories was about the “coachwhip” snake. As the story goes, if a coachwhip sees you it will chase you down, wrap around you and then proceed to whip you with its whiplike tail and body.

The eastern coachwhip, Masticophis flagellum flagellum, can be a rather large snake, growing to 6-7 feet in length, and can be an impressive sight to behold. If, that is, you ever get the chance to see one up close.

These snakes, contrary to the story, will not chase or whip you; in fact, their main defense is to get out of your way as fast as possible — and did I mention that they are incredibly fast? These snakes are literally so fast that usually when we encounter them, they are gone before we can even catch them. The only way we’re ever able to catch one for pics is if we get them out in the open or flip them under artificial cover and surprise them. If they are cornered and cannot escape, they will bite, often striking at the face of their captor.

There are currently seven subspecies of coachwhip recognized through out the United States and northern Mexico. In Alabama we have the eastern variety, Masticophis flagellum flagellum, and it is slowly declining due to habitat loss. They are a slender built snake, that in most localities posses a solid black head and neck that transitions into the light tan braided whip pattern that gives them their common name, although specimens from certain other locations can often be a solid light tan coloration and in some cases show faint bands.

I often find this species in agricultural fields or in areas of open-canopy, dry forests.

Although more commonly known for eating lizards, don’t be surprised to catch this snake devouring small birds and hunting small mammals as well as smaller snakes!
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Hundreds of live and dead reptiles were found in cigarette containers and children’s books, as men tried to smuggle them out of Perth Airport.

From the Daily Mail:

Skinks, geckos, frogs, pygmy pythons, and a dead death adder – one of the most venomous snakes in the world – were found in the staggering haul.

A number of invertebrates and 33 dead reptiles, which appear to have been tagged for use as specimens, were also discovered amongst more than 157 reptiles and amphibians being transported out of Western Australia.

Four men were arrested and charged – two from Russia and two from the Czech Republic – at Perth International Airport on February 6 after an investigation by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife.

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By Herp News

A squat lizard with dragon-like head spines won a temporary reprieve from encroachment by urban development and alternative energy facilities on Thursday when California’s Fish and Game Commission declared it a candidate for protection under the state Endangered Species Act.

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By Herp News

Solstice, an endangered olive ridley sea turtle, arrived at SeaWorld San Diego on Tuesday after a trip on a Coast Guard aircraft from Oregon to Coronado.

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By Herp News

Many fear that an endangered 100kg soft-shell turtle caught by a fisherman in Daro may end up in the cooking pot for a mere 2,000 ringgit (US$553

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Start your week off right with this happy looking fire salamander in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user travisdimler!

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By Herp News

The Marathon Turtle Hospital received a new patient Friday, after a Key West Wildlife Center worker rescued a sick sea turtle near the seawall by the Key West International Airport. read more

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By Herp News

It took five people crossing a swinging bridge and riding through the mud and marsh in a 4

By Herp News

A sea turtle that was rescued from frigid Northwest waters and treated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium has caught a ride back to California on a Coast Guard training flight.

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By Herp News

A sea turtle that was rescued from frigid Northwest waters and treated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is catching a ride back to California on a Coast Guard training flight.

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By Herp News

The Lizard Squad collective took credit for the attack, which is still under investigation by Lenovo.

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By Herp News

What is the dunes sagebrush lizard? The small, light-brown reptile, also known as the sand dunes lizard, seeks refuge from the sun and potential predators beneath stands of shinnery oak, a relatively rare tree that thrives in the dunes of West Texas and New Mexico.

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By Herp News

In a first-of-its-kind case, a pair of conjoined lizards called Quince monitor lizards were discovered at a German zoo, according to a new report.

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By Herp News

A nearly complete fossil of a prehistoric marine reptile with preserved soft tissue has been found in central-western Colombia, at a spot several hundred miles from the Caribbean coast, a university in this capital said.

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By Herp News

Paddling its flippers into the surf Tuesday will be the 150th sea turtle to be rehabilitated and then released by the South Carolina Aquarium. It will be among five cold-stunned turtles to return to the ocean.

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By Herp News

A three-alarm fire at a brew pub injured three people, including two firefighters, Tuesday morning in Ocean City.

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By Herp News

A sea turtle that was rescued from frigid Northwest waters and treated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is catching a ride back to California on a Coast Guard training flight.

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By Herp News

A sea turtle that was rescued from frigid Northwest waters and treated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium has caught a ride back to California on a Coast Guard training flight.

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By Herp News

Ester Mish’s husband gave her a pair of pythons for their wedding anniversary.

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By Herp News

Cadiz Inc. is pleased to announce today the permanent protection of up to 7,400 acres of its private land holdings through the establishment of the Fenner Valley Desert Tortoise Conservation Bank , in eastern San Bernardino County, California .

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By Herp News

Cadiz Inc. is pleased to announce today the permanent protection of up to 7,400 acres of its private land holdings through the establishment of the Fenner Valley Desert Tortoise Conservation Bank , in eastern San Bernardino County, California .

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Boa breeders around the U.S. can breath a sigh of relief today. An inaccurate report published last night in the Miami Herald set the stage for bad news, but today the USFWS has chosen not to list the boa constrictor as an invasive species at this time, choosing instead to only list reticulated pythons and three species of anaconda.

A press release issued today by the service stated:

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today declared the reticulated python, DeSchauensee’s anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda as “injurious” under the Lacey Act. A fifth snake, the boa constrictor, is removed from consideration for listing as an injurious wildlife species.

The listing will prohibit import of the four snakes into the United States and its territories, as well as transport across state lines for snakes already in the country, and is intended to help restrict the snakes’ spread in the wild. Following opportunities for public comment, an economic analysis and an environmental assessment, the Service produced the final rule, which is expected to publish in the Federal Register March 10. The prohibitions in the rule will go into effect 30 days after publication and apply to live individuals, gametes, viable eggs or hybrids of the four snakes.”

To read the complete press release, click here.

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By Herp News

Pakistani authorities are investigating after nearly two tonnes of freshwater turtle meat — a record haul taken from more than 4,000 animals — was seized from smugglers at Karachi port, officials said Friday. Customs officers last week foiled an attempt to smuggle 1.9 tonnes of turtle meat falsely labelled as fish meat to Hong Kong. “This is the biggest ever consignment of turtles seized in …

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