From Yahoo News Canada:

A group of biologists working in Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park are trying to save one of Canada’s rarest and perhaps strangest creatures — the greater short-horned lizard.

This lizard, which can be found anywhere between New Mexico and southwestern Alberta, has a rather unique and strange defense mechanism. It shoots its own blood from its eyes to ward off an attacker.
The lizard has been considered endangered on Canada’s Species At Risk list since 2007, mainly due to habitat loss from “ongoing oil and gas development, proliferation of roads, proposed mineral development, and an increased human presence.”

Read the story here, and watch video of this lizard’s bloody defenses under the jump.
Continue reading “Scientists work to save lizard” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

From Yahoo News Canada:

A group of biologists working in Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park are trying to save one of Canada’s rarest and perhaps strangest creatures — the greater short-horned lizard.

This lizard, which can be found anywhere between New Mexico and southwestern Alberta, has a rather unique and strange defense mechanism. It shoots its own blood from its eyes to ward off an attacker.
The lizard has been considered endangered on Canada’s Species At Risk list since 2007, mainly due to habitat loss from “ongoing oil and gas development, proliferation of roads, proposed mineral development, and an increased human presence.”

Read the story here, and watch video of this lizard’s bloody defenses under the jump.
Continue reading “Scientists work to save “ …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

KOHLER, Wis., July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The  KOHLER Original Recipe Chocolate  story begins with turtles. And not just any run-of-the-mill turtle – a complex blend of chocolate; smoky, burnt caramel …

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Frankie’sYear of The Ramcontinues.

I see a lot of discussion about sulcata ramming.

Both male and female sulcata ram. When they want to. Seen it.

Keepers with younger sulcata from hatchlings to a few years old really don’t notice ramming. When a sulcata is young ramming looks like hiding and sounds like hissing.

As a sulcata get’s older thingshappenand a sulcata owner will wonder, “Did that sulcata just ram me?” or “Did the sulcata just give me a love-tap?” For the medium sized sulcata a ram is more like a bump or a forward jump. Owners think, “Oh, I just scared him.”

When a sulcata gets big….well there is no mistaking when a big sulcata rams.

Never stand in front of a big sulcata when it rams. Just don’t.

There are signs. Indicators. Big White Flags. Don’t ignore them.

And never, NEVER, take the bucket away.

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Read more here: Turtle Times

By Herp News

In a single night in March, a band of heavily-armed, horse-riding poachers slaughtered 89 elephants in southern Chad, thirty of which were pregnant females. The carnage was the worst poaching incident of the year, but even this slaughter paled in comparison to the 300 elephants killed in a Cameroon park in 2012. Elephant poaching is hitting new records as experts say some 30,000 elephants are being killed every year for their ivory tusks. But the illegal wildlife trade—estimated at $19 billion—is not just decimating elephants, but also rhinos, big cats, great apes, and thousands of lesser-known species like pangolins and slow lorises. This growing carnage recently led to representatives of over 40 zoos and dozens of wildlife programs to call on governments around the world to take immediate action on long-neglected wildlife crime.

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By Herp News

Revelations of koalas suffering graphic injuries and death in Victorian timber plantations are evidence of a long-standing failure to properly protect the iconic Australian marsupials, according to a leading conservation organization. Footage on Monday night’s 7.30 report showed koalas, including babies, lying dead on the floor of a cleared forest. One koala was missing an arm while another injured animal relocated to a new area of bush was shown to be in visible distress.

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An alligator handler in Florida had his arm broken in two places when a thousand-pound gator bit him during a demonstration at a party.

From the Sun-Sentinel:

Will Nace, a volunteer handler, was bitten by the alligator Lunge while performing during a private party at Native Village on Saturday, said park co-owner Ian Tyson.

The alligator grabbed Nace’s arm and dragged him into a pond where the two spun around. Another trainer jumped into the gated pit and manage to set Nace’s arm free.

Surge Achille, a party-planner at the park, said the frightening incident took less than a few minutes.

“It was surrreal. It was like your mind couldn’t catch up with what was happening,” Achille said. “I kept thinking it wasn’t real, but it was.”

Nace will require multiple surgeries and skin grafts. Read the full story here.

Photo: Sun-Sentinel …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

The Canadian critter shoots blood out of its eyes.

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By Herp News

The Forest Department on Sunday seized an Indian star tortoise from the baggage of a passenger, who had arrived from Coimbatore on Amritha Express, at Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station.

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By Herp News

REGINA – Here's something you don't see every day — a lizard that shoots blood out of its eyes.

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By Herp News

The Count Branickii’s terrible mouse, the Chacoan fairy armadillo, and the more familiar jaguar are among 116 species of medium to large mammals whose distribution in Bolivia is documented in a new database put together by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

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It’s not often the Daily Mail and Gawker both pick up a story about a snake, but this one — from the “you can’t make this stuff up” category — took the prize.

As reported in the Times of Israel:

According to a Channel 10 report, the man, a resident of central Israel, paid his parents a visit in the northern town of Nofit. While sitting on the john, he was rudely and painfully interrupted when a snake appeared and bit his penis. The victim “ran from the room in horror” and went to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center for treatment, according to the report.

A blood test found that the snake was not venomous. The man was in good condition, but doctors decided to keep him under medical supervision.

Read it here .
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Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Demand for scales, meat, and even fetuses of pangolins have pushed all eight species of this unique mammalian order—Pholidota—toward extinction, according to the world’s first ever pangolin conference with the International Union for Conservation of Nature – Species Survival Commission (IUCN-SSC) Pangolin Specialist Group. Meeting in Singapore earlier this month, 40 conservationists from 14 countries discussed the plight of these little-known scaly mammals and how to turn around their global decline.

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By Herp News

Nature preserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national forests, parks, grasslands and protected areas are the cornerstones of conservation. These are the wild places where animals can still dwell, grow, and reproduce in their natural environment without any human-caused stressors. While many of these special places have facilitated leaps and bounds for wildlife conservation, the reality is that these areas are extremely limited and most plants and animals live beyond, or must migrate out of, their bounds.

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By Herp News

Prosecutors bring cruelty animal charges against 2 men at rodent, reptile breeding facility        

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By Herp News

The string of midday meal tragedies continue as a dead lizard was found in the midday meal here on Monday, prior to consumption by the students of a government school. The students complained that it

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By Herp News

Unsustainable hunting of forest elephants, gorillas, forest antelopes, and other seed-dispersers could have long-term impacts on the health and resilience of Congo Basin rainforests, warns a study published today in a special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B. Conducting a review of more than 160 papers and reports on trends in wildlife populations, hunting, and land use in the Congo Basin, an international team of researchers conclude that unless effective management plans are put into place, hunting pressure in the region is likely to increase, with knock-on ecological effects.

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By Herp News

Found in Central America’s largest forest, the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the Guatemalan organization Arcas has rescued and rehabilitated thousands of animals since its inception in 1989. Unlike many wildlife rescue centers worldwide, Arcas focuses on rehabilitating every animal for eventually release back into the wild. This means intensive training for each species, including food gathering and predator avoidance. A new short video by Arcas highlights the group’s decades-long work.

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By Herp News

China is home to greater than 10% of the Earth’s mammals. In the Mammals of China, Andrew T. Smith, PhD and Yan Xie, PhD have produced a comprehensive easy-to-read pocket guide to this outstanding biodiversity. Mammals of China is the first time that the natural history of all the mammals of China are included in a single pocket guide book resource.

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Check out this video “Sulcata Tortoise Trouble,” submitted by kingsnake.com user rugbyman2000.
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
Read more here: King Snake

Check out this video “Sulcatta Tortoise Trouble,” submitted by kingsnake.com user rugbyman2000.
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
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

York, PA – At about 6:30 Wednesday evening, Bradley Ness' dog, Bella, began barking in the backyard and when Ness went to see what was disturbing her, he spotted it, crawling out from under the shed.

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By Herp News

A rehabilitated Georgia sea turtle who never seemed to want to return to the ocean is finally getting a permanent home — serving as her species' newest ambassador at Sea World.

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By Herp News

A rehabilitated Georgia sea turtle who never seemed to want to return to the ocean is finally getting a permanent home — serving as her species' newest ambassador at Sea World.

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By Herp News

CRUEL crooks snatched a pet tortoise during a burglary at a house in South Tyneside.        

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By Herp News

She's the sea turtle that didn't want to get away.

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By Herp News

She's the sea turtle that didn't want to get away.

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By Herp News

A century-old Turtle Bay town house, known as the Ellen Biddle Shipman House, with 13 rooms, 3 terraces, a roof garden and views of the East River and New York Harbor, was the most expensive residential property sale of the week.

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By Herp News

Snake enthusiasts and other reptile devotees flocked to the N.C. State Fairgrounds to be among others who have a warm spot for cold-blooded critters.

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By Herp News

The Tories' election strategist is a master of 'dog-whistle' politics, honed in his native Australia, but concerns about his lobbying business are putting the prime minister on the spot The Conservatives' election strategist, Lynton Crosby, aka the Wizard of Oz, may have a new nickname if he can slink through the controversy over whether he has influenced government policy in favour of his …

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By Herp News

Indonesia’s president spoke out against the killing of a critically endangered Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) last week, using his Twitter account to urge local authorities to take action in the case. The large male elephant was found dead last Saturday morning near Rantau Sabon village in Indonesia’s Aceh province. The elephant’s face was crushed, its tusks had been removed and taken and its trunk was detached from its body. Photos of the grisly scene were quickly circulated via social media, generating over 10,000 mentions on Twitter less than 24 hours after the animal was found, prompting a response from the president and other high-level officials.

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By Herp News

Hundreds of reptile enthusiasts are heading over to Araba Shrine this weekend for a reptile and exotic animal show hosted by Repticon.

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By Herp News

A recent study conducted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) on endangered Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) has revealed that the animals are more susceptible to starvation as a result of their exposure to humans. Over a span of more than 18 months, conservationists tagged and monitored the behavior and physiology of two groups of 60 Galapagos sea lions, one in San Cristobal, which is inhabited by humans, and one in Santa Fe, where there are no humans, dogs, cats, mice, or rats.

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By Herp News

If you could hit the reset button on evolution and start over, would essentially the same species appear? Yes, according to a study of Caribbean lizards.

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It’s Friday, so let’s be happy! And all you have to do to get that way is read this good news from the Houston Zoo, where their efforts to keep Houston toad populations healthy and thriving are paying off.

From the zoo blog:

We have been very successful in raising the tadpoles and subsequent toadlets that we kept back from our releases. Of all the tadpoles that hatched from the eggs, we only lost 5! We now actually have too many toadlets (200+) to keep here at the facility! In the coming weeks, we will once again work with researchers from Texas State University and USFWS to release these little guys back out into the wild. This will mark our fourth release of the year and is the first time ever that we have released three different life stages: eggs, juveniles, and adults!

Read the rest here!

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Read more here: King Snake

My turtle recently had a growth of some sort on it’s neck. I thought it might have gotten scratched in it’s enclosure, but then the growth got bigger. I’ve been checking it everyday and it stopped growing. Tonight I checked on it and the growth was starting to get a little white around the base of it. About an hour later the growth had come out and the part that was in Dot’s neck area was all white, but it was still attached by a piece of skin. I left it on because I don’t know if it is causing Dot pain and if it was I didn’t want to pull it off and possibly start bleeding and result in an infection. Is Dot safe to be with the other 2 turtles I have. If Dot is sick I don’t want her near Franklin and Tundra especially since Tundra just laid eggs the day. Please, can someone explain this????? …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times

By Herp News

Scientists have described a new species of poison dart frog after discovering it during a study to determine the impact of tourism on biodiversity in a tract of rainforest known as ‘The Lost World’ in Guyana.

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It’s hot and rainly this summer, Frankie.
How are you doing and what are you up to?
I call this Frankie’s Hurt Corner

The Hurt Corner is for ramming things.
I don’t stand in the Hurt Corner when Frankie is around.

Frankie hurts the bucket.

Yesterday, Frankie distroyed the clay pot.

This is Frankie’s pool.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1X9apR3578M/UegAfpKGwxI/AAAAAAAAAv0/Oyt1-SomTcg/s1600/on+it I don’t think it’s gonna last the summer.

I am doing my best to keep Frankie cool but it’s hot and it rains almost daily.

I swear I just mowed last weekend.

I don’t care if it’s hot. Get out here and help me mow!
…read more
Read more here: Turtle Times

By Herp News

Finding true ecotourism companies isn’t easy. While the tourism industry worldwide has latched onto the term ‘ecotourism,’ in many cases it’s more propaganda than reality. Especially in heavily-touristed areas—like the Caribbean Islands—it’s difficult to find efforts that are actually low impact, sustainable as possible, and educational. However, some companies are beginning to make headway in a region known for all-inclusive resorts and big cruises. One such company is the relatively young Explora! Ecotour in the Dominican Republic, run by passionate naturalists, Manny Jimenes and Olyenka Sang.

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By Herp News

A team on South Georgia has successfully completed the world’s largest rodent eradication in an effort to rid the British territory of millions of rats and mice. Against the backdrop of an approaching Antarctic winter between February and May, three helicopters encountered perilous flying conditions while peppering the southern Atlantic island with 183 tonnes of the poison Brodifacoum. The team of 25 baited an area of 224 sq miles (580 sq km). The area targeted dwarfed the previous largest rodent eradication, on New Zealand’s Campbell Island, by five times.

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