After nearly a quarter century, the Oregon spotted frog has been designated a protected species.

From Scientific American:

It only took 23 years but the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) has finally gained protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The small, aquatic frogs—which only reach about 100 millimeters in length—have been considered candidates for protected status since 1991. The species has probably already disappeared from its former range in California and in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, along with 90 percent of its other range that encompasses its namesake state, Washington State and British Columbia, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

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Used in moderation, reptile skin adds a chic sense of style and intrigue in both the fashion and design world.

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Police officers responding to reports Monday of an alligator on the loose in Huntington Park were probably relieved when they found themselves wrangling a 3-foot-long Tegu lizard instead.

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Karen Short got the surprise of a lifetime early Wednesday when her beloved 90-pound tortoise, Cruiser, was returned unharmed six days after he was stolen from her yard.

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Karen Short got the surprise of a lifetime early Wednesday when her beloved 90-pound tortoise, Cruiser, was returned unharmed six days after he was stolen from her yard.

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Police officers responding to reports Monday of an alligator on the loose in Huntington Park were probably relieved when they found themselves wrangling a 3-foot-long Tegu lizard instead.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society released seventeen endangered Siamese crocodiles in Laos as part of their program to work with local villages to strengthen the crocodile population.

From National Geographic:

The release of the crocodiles is part of the Community-based Crocodile Recovery and Livelihood Improvement Project, designed and implemented by WCS’s Lao PDR Program. ”The program has three key objectives,” WCS explained in its statement today, “contributing to local livelihoods by improving coordination of water resource use and zoning of lands used in local agriculture; conserving and restoring crocodile wetland habitat important for local livelihoods, crocodiles, and other species; and replenishing the crocodile population in the wetland complex and surveying and monitoring the current population.”

The program has worked with nine villages – each village has a “Village Crocodile Conservation Group” (VCCG) to coordinate implementation of program activities in the Xe Champone wetland complex and surrounding areas.

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Some tropical reptiles may be able to adapt quickly to climate change rather than go extinct as widely expected, a study finds. The research is the first direct measurement of climate-driven natural selection on the thermal physiology of a wildlife species — in other words, survival of the fittest in an increasingly warm world.

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Lonesome George, the worlds most famous tortoise, goes on display at the American Museum of Natural History. He might be dead, but he will not be forgotten When I first met Lonesome George, I will admit he didnt leave much of an impression. But there was a story about him that did. Lonesome George is famous for being the last giant tortoise from the Galapagos island of Pinta. My genial guide had …

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A threatened desert tortoise was shot and killed in August and the reward for information about it has quadrupled.                

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Malaysia is on the edge of losing its tigers, and the world is one step nearer to losing another tiger subspecies: the Malayan tiger. Camera trap surveys from 2010-2013 have estimated that only 250-340 Malayan tigers remain, potentially a halving of the previous estimate of 500 individuals.

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A large reptile roaming around a Huntington Park neighborhood has been caught, but it's unknown how he got there.

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FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — A reward has increased to over $2,300 to help solve the killing of a desert tortoise. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking for the public's help to determine who shot a protected desert tortoise near the Beeline Highway, about 15 miles north of Fountain Hills. Biologists found the female juvenile tortoise dead on Aug. 25 and believe she was killed around Aug …

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A fungal disease responsible for killing millions of bats may have spread to snakes.

From Saporta Report:

Bats are dying from the white-nose disease, which has killed an estimated 5.7 million bats and driven one species found in Georgia to the brink of extinction. Researchers plan to count the bat population in Rabun County next week as part of the effort to monitor the disease. Experienced volunteers are welcome to participate.

Now snakes are a concern. The first wild snake in Georgia to be diagnosed with snake fungal disease was found on the edge of a blackwater swamp near Statesboro, and the implication is the disease could be spreading.

The fungus associated with white-nose disease shares similarities with the one connected to snake fungal disease, including that it occurs naturally in soil, according to a statement from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

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A rare turtle that nests in the tropics is spotted in the sea off Scotland by a group of anglers fishing for tuna.

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An endangered Pacific green turtle somehow ended up hundreds of miles from home outside the Golden Gate recently, possibly drawn by warmer-than-normal ocean waters.

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If you’ve never heard of the earless monitor lizard, you’re not alone: this cryptic lizard has long-escaped the attention of the larger public. But over the past couple years its bizarre appearance has been splashed across social media sites for reptile collectors. While this decidedly-quirky attention may seem benign, it could actually threaten the species’ existence.

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On your mark…get set…CRAWL!Area turtle owners, it's time to get your pet turtle into racing shape and prepare for the return of turtle racing to the Greater Andover Days!

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The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is preparing to start construction on a multimillion-dollar heritage center.

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Protected areas are working. That’s the conclusion of a new analysis of over 80 different studies on the efficacy of parks and nature reserves in safeguarding wildlife. Published in the open access journal, PLOS ONE, the new study finds that in general protected areas house higher abundances of wildlife as well as greater biodiversity than adjacent areas.

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John Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Fossils discovered in China are providing clues to a species of flying reptile that may have had a jaw pouch for catching and storing food. The pterosaurs lived around 120 million years ago and scientists working on the project noted that as well as being similar to pelicans, they resembled the fictional winged creature Ikran from the movie …

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A rare two-headed snake was found by a Turkish farmer.

From BBC News:

The young snake appears to belong to the Coluber genus of thin-bodied, fast-moving snakes commonly known as racers. Cuneyt Alpguven, who works at Antalya Aquarium’s reptile house, says two-headed snakes are very rare and have little chance of surviving in the wild. “Being two-headed is a major disadvantage, because its anatomical structure makes it more vulnerable to attacks while it also draws the attention of predators.”

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MIRI: All key sea turtle sites should have a volunteer tourism programme to protect its dwindling population.

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A snake found under a car outside a school in Pescadero has been taken in by a reptile rescue organization that will try to find it a long-term home, according to the Peninsula Humane Society.

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A sprawling ancient flying reptile looked so much like a dragon that could have flown alongside the aerial predators called “ikran” in the film “Avatar” that its discoverers named the newfound beast after these mountain banshees.

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By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – (This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the last letter of the genus name, Ikrandraco instead of Ikrandraci) Some of the most visually stunning sequences from director James Cameron's blockbuster movie “Avatar” involved graceful flying creatures that were ridden by blue human-like beings facing ecological destruction on a moon called Pandora. It turns …

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Gopher tortoise facts ♦ Gopher tortoise burrows average 7 feet deep and 15 feet long but may be more than 40 feet long. ♦ A tortoise may have multiple burrows within the area it spends most of its time.

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A boat of salmon fishermen unexpectedly snagged a rare green sea turtle while fishing for salmon outside the Golden Gate Bridge. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday that the turtle is usually found off the shores of Mexico and the Galapagos island. A fisherman aboard the Sausalito, California-based Lusty Lady snagged the 150 pound turtle on Sept. 6. After determining the turtle was …

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A boat of salmon fishermen unexpectedly snagged a rare green sea turtle while fishing for salmon outside the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Here’s a national issue in which Montana has raced out in front of the pack: turtles.

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Check out this video “Snapping Turtle refuses to move,” submitted by kingsnake.com user Minuet.
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By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some of the most visually stunning sequences from director James Cameron's blockbuster movie “Avatar” involved graceful flying creatures that were ridden by blue human-like beings facing ecological destruction on a moon called Pandora. Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of fossils in China of a new species of flying reptile called a pterosaur …

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A snake found under a car outside a school in Pescadero has been taken in by a reptile rescue organization that will try to find it a long-term home, according to the Peninsula Humane Society.

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A boom in infrastructure and population has forced India’s wildlife to eke out a creative existence in an increasingly human-modified environment. Big cats such as the leopard are often spotted within large cities, on railway tracks, and sadly, on India’s burgeoning and sprawling road network.

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The illegal trade in live chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans showed no signs of weakening in the first half of 2014—and may actually be getting worse—since the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) published the first-ever report to gauge the global black market trade in great apes in 2013.

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A pterosaur may have skimmed lakes looking for prey, collecting them in a throat pouch like a pelican's, scientists suggest.

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A sprawling ancient flying reptile looked so much like a dragon that could have flown alongside the aerial predators called “ikran” in the film “Avatar” that its discoverers named the newfound beast after these mountain banshees.

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Authorities are searching for someone who shot and killed a desert tortoise being tracked by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

From AZ Central:

She was the second tortoise in a Game and Fish study to have a transmitter affixed to her, which had been providing researchers information about the reclusive reptile’s movements since 2010. Fourteen other juvenile tortoises in the program have transmitters.

Anyone with information about this killing can call the department’s Operation Game Thief hotline toll-free at (800) 352-0700 or visit www.azgfd.gov/thief and refer to case #14-002388. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

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After 20 months, Zambia has lifted its ban on hunting, allowing trophy hunters to target numerous species in the wildlife-rich country including elephants. The announcement was made by the country’s Tourism and Art’s Minister, Jean Kapata, who stated that the ban had resulted in a loss of revenue to the Zambia Wild Life Authority (ZAWA).

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A snake found under a car outside a school in Pescadero has been taken in by a reptile rescue organization that will try to find it a long-term home, according to the Peninsula Humane Society.

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