By Herp News

The owner of a 5ft long lizard who was the subject of a police appeal after he went missing has spoken about her pet's escape.

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A reptile store owner under investigation for criminal negligence in the deaths of two boys after a large python escaped its enclosure had blood on his hands and shorts when police arrived at the scene in Campbellton, N.B., according to newly released court documents.

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By Herp News

A brave turtle has been spotted hitching a ride on the back of a freshwater crocodile in a north Qld river.

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You’re frozen solid, your heart’s stopped beating, and you haven’t breathed in days. You’re dead, right? Not if you’re an Alaskan wood frog.

The amphibian — an Arctic population of the wood frog, Rana sylvatica — can tolerate being frozen, heart and respiration both stopped, for days or even weeks at a time. Scientists found that they could survive temperatures down to 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit, while they’re Midwestern cousins could only come back from a balmy 24.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

All of which is super cool, of course, but it has a practical, and potentially human-lifesaving application, as well.

From National Geographic:

Beyond being fascinating science, the ability to freeze and unfreeze living organs and tissues without damaging them has potentially profound implications for areas such as organ transplantation.

“There’s an obvious parallel between what these frogs are doing to preserve all of their tissues simultaneously and our need to be able to cryopreserve human organs for tissue-matching purposes,” said [researcher Jon] Costanzo, noting that attempts to successfully freeze human organs for transplants have so far proved unsuccessful, perhaps due to their relative size and cellular complexity.

“If you could freeze human organs even for a short period of time, that would be a major breakthrough because then these organs could be shipped around the world, which would greatly [improve] the donor-matching process,” noted Costanzo.

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Photo: A wood frog in New Jersey, by kingsnake.com user BryanD. …read more
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By Herp News

Byline: The Lizard lifeboat was tasked last night (Tuesday 20 August) to assist the 10 metre yacht Gemma with two people onboard that had suffered gear box problems and was becalmed. Page Content: The yacht was approximately 23 miles southeast of Lizard Point when they called Falmouth Coastguard to ask for assistance. The Lizard lifeboat had already launched on a routine exercise when it was …

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By Herp News

Kopp joins O'Malley in approving deal over Franchot's 'no' vote Kopp joins O'Malley in approving deal over Franchot's no vote        

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By Herp News

Balikpapan. Conservation activists have warned of a massive increase in thefts of turtle eggs in the past month […]

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By Herp News

Turtle, India’s leading menswear lifestyle brand has today set its foot in the fashion capital of the country. With the launch of their first exclusive outlet in the city the brand is all set to raise the fashion quotient of Mumbai even higher.

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By Herp News

MICHIGAN CITY—The 7th annual Washington Park Zoo Reptile Day on Saturday attempted to prove that snakes are not that bad once you get to know them.

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By Herp News

Court documents show the owner of a Campbellton, N.B. reptile store is being investigated for criminal negligence causing death, after a large python escaped its enclosure and killed two young boys a few weeks ago.

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By Herp News

The hellbender, an enormous reptile that resembles a Loch Ness monster, has just been re-introduced to New York State. Continue reading →

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By Herp News

Kopp joins O'Malley in approving deal over Franchot's no vote Kopp joins O'Malley in approving deal over Franchot's no vote        

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By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors has been named one of the 2013 Best Places to Work by the Kansas City Business Journal. The company premiered in this year’s Medium Company category.

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By Herp News

Raising young lemurs in communal crèches benefits both mothers and offspring, a new study has found. Andrea Baden and colleagues, of Yale University, studied a group of black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. This is the first study to examine the consequences of different parenting strategies in the ruffed lemur.

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The CDC reports that cases of Lyme disease have been skyrocketing around the United States — but not in California, thanks to the western fence lizard.

From the LA Times:

The CDC report might lead health authorities to accelerate the research and approval of a Lyme vaccine. Promising results were found earlier this year on one vaccine under development. That would be a popular item in prime Lyme disease territory, largely the Northeast and northern Midwest states where up to 30% of deer ticks carry the infection. Almost all cases of the disease — 96% — occur in 13 states.

California isn’t among them, and one reason for that is that we have, in a sense, our own little natural vaccine program going. In this state, nymphal ticks’ favorite host is the common western fence lizard, which has a protein in it blood that kills the bacterium responsible for Lyme. As a result, few adult ticks are carriers.

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By Herp News

Researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recently developed a list of “Priority Primate Areas” to save Tanzania’s many primate species from extinction. A hub of unique and endangered primates, Tanzania is widely considered to be the most important mainland country for primate diversity in Africa. Approximately a third of the 27 primate species found in Tanzania are unique to the country, including the recently discovered kipunji.

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By Herp News

Researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recently developed a list of “Priority Primate Areas” to save Tanzania’s many primate species from extinction. A hub of unique and endangered primates, Tanzania is widely considered to be the most important mainland country for primate diversity in Africa. Approximately a third of the 27 primate species found in Tanzania are unique to the country, including the recently discovered kipunji.

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By Herp News

As sea ice levels continue to decline in the northern hemisphere, scientists are observing an unsettling trend in harp seal young mortalities regardless of juvenile fitness. While a recent study found that in harp seal breeding regions ice cover decreased by up to 6% a decade from 1979 on, a follow-up study in PLoS ONE compared the rate of harp seal strandings to total ice cover from 1992 to 2010.

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By Herp News

As sea ice levels continue to decline in the northern hemisphere, scientists are observing an unsettling trend in harp seal young mortalities regardless of juvenile fitness. While a recent study found that in harp seal breeding regions ice cover decreased by up to 6% a decade from 1979 on, a follow-up study in PLoS ONE compared the rate of harp seal strandings to total ice cover from 1992 to 2010.

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Once extinct in the wild due to predation by rats, the Pinzón Island subspecies of the Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra duncanensis) has returned to its native island thanks to a successful captive breeding program.

From Scientific American:

[…] Galápagos National Park and its partners launched a program to eradicate the rats and other invasive species throughout the archipelago, starting on smaller islands such as Pinzón, which as of last year was home to an astonishing 180 million rats. Last December more than 20,000 kilograms of poison were dropped on the 18-square-kilometer island. The poisons, which dissolve after a few days, were specially designed to attract rats but repel birds and other wildlife that might accidentally consume them. The rodents quickly took the bait and Pinzón has now been tentatively declared rat-free.

Late last month Galápagos National Park took the third step and returned 118 juvenile tortoises to Pinzón from a breeding center on Santa Cruz Island.

We wish the Pinzón Island tortoise well! Read the rest of the story here.

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By Herp News

A recent bust of pets and pot have one man facing nearly 30 criminal charges in New Hanover County, according to the District Attorney's Office.

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By Herp News

Canada Declares Champion: The Tortoise Torte Wins Tim Hortons Duelling Donuts Contest

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By Herp News

A loggerhead sea turtle that was rescued from a sand bar at Tybee's south end Thursday died on Sunday at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island.

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By Herp News

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. (AP) — A leatherback turtle has been freed after becoming caught in fishing nets off the Rhode Island coast.        

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By Herp News

In 2010, Bulgarian airport authorities confiscated 108 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) from a smuggler. Last month, the 28 parrots who survived the stress of being stuffed into dog kennels, constantly handled by humans, and the absence of their native habitat, completed their three-year journey to freedom.

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By Herp News

In 2010, Bulgarian airport authorities confiscated 108 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) from a smuggler. Last month, the 28 parrots who survived the stress of being stuffed into dog kennels, constantly handled by humans, and the absence of their native habitat, completed their three-year journey to freedom.

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By Herp News

A recent bust of pets and pot have one man facing nearly 30 criminal charges in New Hanover County, according to the District Attorney's Office.

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I was awaken at three o’clock in the morning to what sounded like something in distress. Before getting out of bed I determined it was not a cell phone, low battery smoke detector, battery back up, or some other device as logically these items make a consistent noise. This sound was not consistent, this sound occurred at random times.

Thinking the sound could be an animal in distress I leap (literally) out of bed and grab for my glasses. I am on full alert as I exit the bedroom, turn off the house alarm and then stand perfectly still so I can determine where the sound is coming from.

Newt the cat rubbed against my leg greeting me to the cat-frolicing hour which cause me to gasp and bump into the wall behind me. Okay, Newt is not the source. That leaves 199 more animals to check.

I heard the sound again. It is not on this level. I dash downstairs to the gecko room. At the bottom of the stairs I open the garage door and cat number two comes slinking out of the garage hoping for a fur-rub or food. As far as she is concerned either would be acceptable.

Attention to the cat must wait. I walk through the garage looking for an unfortunate mouse the cat has caught, played with and it’s not dead yet — hey, that is why the cat is in the garage. No body. No sound.

Leaving the garage and entering the gecko room I go terrarium to terrarium looking at any gecko large enough to make the distress call. All is fine.

I hear the sound again and it’s in the direction of the garage. Off I go.

I stand very still in the garage waiting for the sound again. Both cats are in the garage with me when the distress sound happens. Both cats look quickly at the garage door. The sound is coming from outside.

Completely disregarding that I am essentially in my undies not suitable for a walk through the neighborhood I head outside. I stand perfectly still in our drive way, one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, and then five minutes.

I give up. I am standing half naked outside the house in my mismatched night gear (sleep is about comfort and not style), my hair is probably sticking straight up and dry spittle is probably sticking to my chin. Anyone seeing me would NOT think they were looking at a nice lady looking all smoldering and attractive. No, my neighbors would call the police thinking they’ve spotted the first zombie in Alabama.

I go back inside, lock doors, turn off lights, go back in the bed room where my hubby is sitting up in bed. He says, “Well, I’m wide awake now.”<br …read more
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By Herp News

A 5ft (1.5m) long pet lizard that went missing from a Swansea garden after being let out of the house for some exercise is found.

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Check out this video “Cool Chameleons,” submitted by kingsnake.com user variuss11.
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

SWANSEA, Wales, Aug. 18 (UPI) — A large pet lizard made a dash for freedom when it was let out into a garden in Swansea and a police hunt for it was on, officials in Wales said.

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By Herp News

A 5ft-long pet lizard has gone missing from a garden after being let out of the house for some exercise. South Wales Police said the…

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The Slide Rule

Frankie does what Frankie wants in Frankie’s yard. Frankie saw a big plastic lid in his yard so Frankie decided it was a slide. Frankie’s yard, Frankie’s rules.

It’s really hard to image what a sulcata tortoise playing on a slide would look like. When I shared how Frankie used a plastic lid for a slide people wanted to see for themselves.

So I posted this picture of Frankie on a slide
Frankie on his slide

But it’s the video everyone really wants to see. Right? Because seeing Frankie playing slide on a plastic lid that would be something.

Here it is. Frankie on his slide. Maybe it should be called a treadmill. Frankie is about five years old. Heavy metal rock seemed appropriate.

Oops, can’t post video here so please go directly to You TubeClick to see video on You Tube

PS I enjoy your comments.
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By Herp News

A 5ft (1.5m) long pet lizard has gone missing from a Swansea garden, after being let out of the house for some exercise.

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By Herp News

PHOTO: A sea turtle hatchling swims to the water at Guana Tolomato Mantanzas Research Reserve, courtesy Florida DEP Posted by Miranda Grossman / CBS 12 News TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Researchers at Florida's three National Estuarine Research Reserves are reporting that this year's sea turtle nesting season is boasting the second highest nest count on record at the reserves. …

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By Herp News

An emaciated loggerhead sea turtle is recuperating at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center after washing up on the south end of Tybee Island.

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By Herp News

Watch out for tortoises at Barefoot Beach because these slow-moving creatures can get crushed under vehicles leaving the parking lot. Joanna Fitzgerald, director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital, shares her tips.

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By Herp News

More than 100 reptile breeders and vendors have set up booths.

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By Herp News

But most of the stolen creatures, including snakes and a baby alligator, have not been found.        

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By Herp News

York, PA – Lizard Lick Towing created a sensation Friday at the York Expo Center. Dozens of people stood in line waiting to meet Ron and Amy Shirley, two of the stars of the reality-TV show that runs weekly on cable's TruTV network and features the exploits of Ron Shirley and his crew as they

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