We actually found some good news about amphibians. No, really.

From the Vancouver, Canada, Globe and Mail:

Scientists at the Vancouver Aquarium have sprung into action, as part of an effort to prevent an endangered frog population from becoming extinct in eastern British Columbia.

The Rocky Mountain population of northern leopard frogs plummeted by the millions in the 1970s, and only two populations are now known to exist near Creston, in B.C.’s West Kootenay region.

The aquarium announced Thursday its scientists have, for the first time in Canada, bred the species in an aquarium setting and created an assurance — or backup — population.

Dennis Thoney, the aquarium’s director of animal operations, said officials plan to release about 2,000 tadpoles Monday in the Columbia Marshes near the east Kootenay city of Cranbrook, while maintaining a population at the aquarium.

Read more here. And try to smile.

Photo: Adult Northern leopard frogs. (Vancouver Aquarium) …read more

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By Herp News

A science blogger with a keen sense of vision claims to have spotted a lizard meandering around Mars.

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By Herp News

A science blogger with a keen sense of vision claims to have spotted a lizard meandering around Mars.

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PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rescue workers found a loggerhead turtle stuck in between the rocks on Palm Beach Island. The 200 pound turtle was found on the northern end at the Palm Beach Inlet at the Jetty. Palm Beach Fire Rescue was called in to free the trapped animal. …

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Scientists have recently taken rare and incredible footage of a giant anteater with a camera trap in the Barba Azul Nature Reserve of Bolivia. This footage captures a giant anteater wallowing in a pit of mud. The animal lies down, rolling around and scratching itself, for a period of, what seems to be, over a minute.

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With each passing year, as the various exporting countries close or open their seasons and/or shipping quotas the herps we see in the pet trade change. Availability of some changes from abundance to rarity, of others from rarity to abundance.

Two examples are the Colombian horned frog, Ceratophrys calcarata, and wild caught examples of the coveted red-tailed boa, Boa constrictor constrictor.

The former, once available in the thousands each breeding season, have not been available for decades and likewise for the boa, although far fewer numbers were involved.

Those among us who are keepers (yes, I am one) owe each and every animal, be their cost mere pennies or thousands of dollars, the best of conditions and care. Research each species before acquisition, and then acquire only those that you can care for adequately and with relative ease.
Continue reading “Are you a keeper?” …read more

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By Herp News

The Russian Far East is one of the wildest places on Earth: where giant tigers roam snow-covered forests and the world’s biggest owls stalk frozen rivers. Bordering northern China and North Korea, the forests of Primorye are known for the diversity of habitats, including coastal forests along the Sea of Japan, vast coniferous forests in the Sikhote-Alin mountains, and even steppe. These diverse ecosystems also makes the forests a hotspot for endangered species, including Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), Blakiston’s fish owls (Bubo blakistoni), and one of the world’s rarest big cats, Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis), which number only 30-50 animals.

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After treatment at Marathon’s Turtle Hospital for digestive tract impaction, a loggerhead sea turtle was returned to the ocean off of the Florida Keys on Friday.

From Nature World News:

The roughly 6-pound, foot-long animal nicknamed “Charley” was first located by a fisherman who spotted it floating in a patch of weeds 22 miles off of the Middle Keys.

Upon examination veterinarians discovered that Charley had ingested a small piece of plastic, causing its digestive system to become impacted.

Richie Maroetti, Turtle Hospital founder and director, said in a statement that turtles sometimes confuse plastic with one of their favorite food sources: jellyfish.

“It plugged up her bowel and she started to float,” Moretti said. “We gave her some antibiotics and gave her a little Metamucil and she’s just much better.”

Ultimately, however, Charley’s struggle is symptomatic of a much larger problem, Moretti warns.

“We just gotta keep plastic out of our ocean,” he said.

Read the rest of the story here.

Photo : Florida Keys & Key West News Flash …read more

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By Herp News

Over the past 30 years, amphibians worldwide have been infected with a lethal skin disease known as the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). “The disease can cause rapid mortality, with infected frogs of susceptible species dying within weeks of infection in the laboratory.” Jodi Rowley, a herpetologist with the Australian Museum told mongabay.com. “This disease has now been associated with declines and extinctions in hundreds of species of amphibians worldwide, and is a serious threat to global amphibian biodiversity.”

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A new consensus statement by 520 scientists from around the world warns that global environmental harm is putting at risk the happiness and well-being of this and future generations.

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A tortoise emerged triumphant from one of Oxford’s weird and wonderful traditions over the weekend.

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In this installment of Zoo Spotlight, Menominee Park Zoo staff introduces us to Dash, an African Spurred Tortoise.

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Check out this video “Corn Snake Morphs,” submitted by kingsnake.com user boa2cobras.
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

Tiny turtle Leroy was rescued by a fisherman in the Great Barrier Reef, suffering from floating syndrome.

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Rio de Janeiro, May 27 (IANS/EFE) A pre-historic tortoise that lived in the Brazilian Amazon is the most likely ancestor of the tortoises that live in Ecuador's Galapagos archipelago today, paleontologists said.

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One of our photographers was shooting video of a couch floating in the floodwaters. When he zoomed in, he spotted a lizard and some of the biggest coach roaches we’ve…

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A Columbia restaurant chain has a $1,5000 penalty for employees not being paid for hours worked.

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Thomas Cobb’s snakes: Many of us have followed the Thomas Cobb situation in Utah in which Cobb was unaware of a city ordinance requiring a permit to keep exotic animals. The language of the ordinance was ambiguous, and although some citizens wanted officials to enforce that Cobb only be allowed one pet, Cobb prevailed and was granted 29 permits for his 29 boa constrictors.

Cobb did a remarkable job representing the herp community, remaining professional and level-headed at all times. Not enough can be said about his dedication to present herp keepers in a positive light.

Thank you for being a responsible and dedicated herper, Thomas. Thank you to everyone who supported, and continues to support, Thomas, as well.

Shipping news: Legislation has been introduced to solve an interstate transport issue for exporting certain snake species. Under current ruling, if a shipment must stop anywhere in the U.S. after departure, it is considered interstate commerce even though the plane is merely stopping to refuel or add freight before leaving the country.

The proposed legislation will allow for export even when the shipment must pass through intermediate airports that are not designated ports. The ruling that listed several snake species as injurious under the Lacey Act has resulted in many headaches for anyone exporting these large constrictor snake species.

The snakes included in this bill are: Burmese python, Indian python, Northern and Southern African pythons and Yellow anaconda.

Photo of Thomas Cobb and son, Caiden Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Continue reading “Thomas Cobb to keep his snakes” …read more

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Supermodel Cara Delevingne was quite the herp-loving little girl, reports heatworld.com.

Cara then:

Cara now:

Whether you grow up to strut the runway, crack genetic codes, or rule the world, just keep on herpin’, little girls! …read more

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By Herp News

What started out as a small reptile rescue run out of a local couple’s home has bloomed into the Great Lakes Zoological Society’s “World of Discovery” center, an indoor amphibian and reptile zoo of about 100 animals, located just west of Ann Arbor.

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Parliament welcomed a surprise visitor yesterday _ a two-metre-long monitor lizard that made its home in an air duct. Officials were alerted to the reptile's presence by a member of the press who spotted it through a metal grille in the ceiling.

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VALHALLA, N.Y., May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ –  Turtle Beach is excited to announce that it is working with Microsoft to develop market-leading audio solutions for Xbox One. The two companies will leverage …

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Sea turtle nest No. 1 was found this week in Seagrove by Ann Stuart. It is a Loggerhead. Published: Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 13:20 PM. The turtles are back.

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Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online If you see a turtle crossing a busy road – pick it up and send it in the direction it was originally going on the other side of the road, advises the advocacy group American Tortoise Rescue (ATR), which is celebrating their 13th annual World Turtle Day 2013 today. Picking up the tortoise and turning it around will only cause the slow moving …

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Parliament welcomed a surprise visitor yesterday _ a two-metre-long monitor lizard that made its home in an air duct. Officials were alerted to the reptile's presence by a member of the press who spotted it through a metal grille in the ceiling.

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What started out as a small reptile rescue run out of a local couple’s home has bloomed into the Great Lakes Zoological Society’s “World of Discovery” center, an indoor amphibian and reptile zoo of about 100 animals, located just west of Ann Arbor.

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The late spring sun shown brightly and the woodlands were verdant with newly greened leaves. Crows cawed over head and a broad-winged hawk circled lazily. I was clambering over some sizable tumbled boulders. To my left was a roller coaster that, come sundown, would be zipping boisterous, screaming, throngs up and down inclines that I didn’t even want to imagine and around hairpin curves that I wanted to think about even less.

To my right the boulder field eased and the greenery encroached tightly. I had been told that here, amidst the very rocks I was now traversing, northern copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen, denned, foraged, bred, and underwent their quiet lives unseen and unsuspected by the amusement park employees and attendees.

I wasn’t sure that I believed this, for although I knew the rocks to be home to garter snakes and black racers, I was one of the many who never had suspected the presence of a pit viper of any kind. And so far on this glorious spring day my total for snakes seen was zero.

I had made my way, slowly and searchingly, across the expanse of boulders and was about to carefully make the return. In preparation I stepped out into the woodland, and stood for a moment listening to the sounds of the wild. Birds on their spring migration were cheeping, chirping, and lisping overhead. I listened for a few minutes, then turned to begin my return.

Ahead of me, among hundreds of others, was a flat, foliage surrounded, sun-drenched, rock. And what was that spot of orange on it? I looked more closely. Neonate copperhead.

The tales were true, and this day would live forever in memory.
Continue reading “A Glorious Copperhead Kind of Day” …read more

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In a nice change of pace from news of species and habitat loss worldwide, meet the ten newly identified species scientists have selected as the best and most interesting of last year — including a new snake and a new frog.

From Science Daily:

An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23.

Meet the world’s newest snake:

No to the Mine! Snake
Sibon noalamina
Country: Panama

Snail-eating snake: A beautiful new species of snail-eating snake has been discovered in the highland rainforests of western Panama. The snake is nocturnal and hunts soft-bodied prey including earthworms and amphibian eggs, in addition to snails and slugs. This harmless snake defends itself by mimicking the alternating dark and light rings of venomous coral snakes. The species is found in the Serranía de Tabasará mountain range where ore mining is degrading and diminishing its habitat. The species name is derived from the Spanish phrase “No a la mina” or “No to the mine.”

Next, the world’s smallest and newest frog:

World’s Smallest Vertebrate
Paedophryne amanuensis
Country: New Guinea

Tiny frog: Living vertebrates — animals that have a backbone or spinal column — range in size from this tiny new species of frog, as small as 7 millimeters, to the blue whale, measuring 25.8 meters. The new frog was discovered near Amau village in Papua, New Guinea. It captures the title of ‘smallest living vertebrate’ from a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that claimed the record in 2006. The adult frog size, determined by averaging the lengths of both males and females, is only 7.7 millimeters. With few exceptions, this and other ultra-small frogs are associated with moist leaf litter in tropical wet forests — suggesting a unique ecological guild that could not exist under drier circumstances.

Read the rest of the top new species here. …read more

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By Herp News

All rights reserved . Credit: Hilton/Greenpeace An Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) swims in the open blue ocean of the Pacific. Image caption:  An Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) swims in the open blue ocean of the Pacific. When I heard it was World Turtle Day , I hatched a plan. I know that to an international audience ‘turtle’ covers  a multitude of reptile species, but …

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Tiny turtle Leroy was rescued by a fisherman in the Great Barrier Reef, suffering from floating syndrome.

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What started out as a small reptile rescue run out of a local couple’s home has bloomed into the Great Lakes Zoological Society’s “World of Discovery” center, an indoor amphibian and reptile zoo of about 100 animals, located just west of Ann Arbor.

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LUCKY turtle Leroy, who almost died from floating syndrome, will be on display in a far north Queensland aquarium for World Turtle Day.

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An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by a global committee of taxonomists.

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By Herp News

An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by a global committee of taxonomists.

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Famed anthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey has proposed a possible solution to the hugely controversial Serengeti road: build an elevated highway. Leakey made the remarks during a conference at Rutgers University on May 14th, as reported by Live Science. The Tanzanian government’s plans to build a road through the remote, northern Serengeti has come under both environmental and international criticism, as scientific studies and leaked government reports have found the proposed road would hugely hamper the world famous migration across the plans.

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TWO fire crews were called to a flat in Taunton this evening (May 21) after a fire broke out in a reptile tank.

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The first sea turtle nest of the season in Horry County has been reported on the beach near 69 th Avenue North.

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By Herp News

What started out as a small reptile rescue run out of a local couple’s home has bloomed into the Great Lakes Zoological Society’s “World of Discovery” center, an indoor amphibian and reptile zoo of about 100 animals, located just west of Ann Arbor.

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By Herp News

A two-metre monitor lizard was found crawling through air ducts in the ceiling inside Government House building on Wednesday morning, reports said.

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A two-metre monitor lizard was found crawling through air ducts in the ceiling of the parliament building on Wednesday morning, reports said.

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