By Herp News

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o achieve greater rigor of verdicts for those convicted of wildlife crimes, who often receive light sentences, Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry is reaching out to judges to upgrade their knowledge, according to a senior official. “We’re aware of the situation,” Ridho Rasio Sani, the ministry’s new director-general for law enforcement, told mongabay.com. “That’s why we’re initiating a meeting with judges to train them on environmental issues.” In July, the Bengkalis District Court in Riau province was criticized by activists and officials when seven elephant poachers each received one-year prison sentences and fines of 3 million rupiah ($212), a verdict deemed weak even by the minister herself. Around the same time, the nearby Medan District Court in Sumatra’s largest port city sentenced prominent wildlife trafficker Vast Haris Nasution to two years imprisonment and and fined him 10 million rupiah for trying to sell a baby orangutan on Facebook. While the latter verdict was hailed by conservationists as a possible sign of greater stringency, it was still an outlier. Sani hopes improving judges’ understanding of wildlife issues will encourage them to hand out stronger sentences. “It could be that judges have little understanding of the impacts [of wildlife] toward [human] life,” Sani said. “Most of them might be thinking, ‘Oh, it’s only animal [killings], what harm could it bring [to humans]?’ But animals and plants are also important to be protected as much as humans.” A mahout sits atop a Sumatran elephant in Indonesia. Photo: Rhett A.…

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Scientists at Oregon State University are currently studying a baby salamander encased in an amber sample found in an amber mine in the Dominican Republic. There are no salamanders living on islands in the Caribbean today, but the amber-coated amphibian found shows there once were.

“There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber,” – OSU Professor Emeritus George Poinar, Jr.

The sample containing the salamander hatchling measures under an inch in length is an extinct, and the amphibian is a previously undiscovered species, now named Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae, that dates back to between 20 million and 30 million years. For more details check out the paper published online in the journal Palaeodiversity.
Photo: George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University …read more
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By Herp News

For one Asian giant softshell turtle, a single person’s kindness meant the difference between life and death-as-soup. In July, Serene Voo Nyuk Wei stumbled on a 15 kilogram (33 pound) Asian giant soft shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) at a market in her hometown of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. “I love and respect all living creatures. I knew that buying that animal would encourage the trade, but I could not face the fact that this poor turtle was going to end in someone’s soup,” said Serene Voo Nyuk Wei, who paid RM 700 or about $165 U.S. dollars for the massive freshwater turtle. Serene Voo Nyuk Wei and the freshwater turtle that she rescued. Photo credit: Sabah Wildlife Department and Danau Girang Field Centre She then took it home and contacted Sabah’s Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) for aid in setting the endangered turtle free. “Once we received the animal, a full medical check up was carried out to evaluate the health condition of the poor turtle,” said Diana Ramirez, WRU’s assistant manager and a wildlife veterinarian. “It had a slight malformation on the carapace, but after a few days on observation and receiving vitamin supplements, we decided that it was a good candidate to be released back into the wild.” Things moved fast after that. Within a few days, officials drove the turtle from the bustling metropolis of Kota Kinabalu to the rural quiet of the Danau Girang Field Center and…

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By Herp News

For one Asian giant softshell turtle, a single person’s kindness meant the difference between life and death-as-soup. In July, Serene Voo Nyuk Wei stumbled on a 15 kilogram (33 pound) Asian giant soft shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) at a market in her hometown of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. “I love and respect all living creatures. I knew that buying that animal would encourage the trade, but I could not face the fact that this poor turtle was going to end in someone’s soup,” said Serene Voo Nyuk Wei, who paid RM 700 or about $165 U.S. dollars for the massive freshwater turtle. Serene Voo Nyuk Wei and the freshwater turtle that she rescued. Photo credit: Sabah Wildlife Department and Danau Girang Field Centre She then took it home and contacted Sabah’s Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) for aid in setting the endangered turtle free. “Once we received the animal, a full medical check up was carried out to evaluate the health condition of the poor turtle,” said Diana Ramirez, WRU’s assistant manager and a wildlife veterinarian. “It had a slight malformation on the carapace, but after a few days on observation and receiving vitamin supplements, we decided that it was a good candidate to be released back into the wild.” Things moved fast after that. Within a few days, officials drove the turtle from the bustling metropolis of Kota Kinabalu to the rural quiet of the Danau Girang Field Center and…

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It had been a very long day in West Texas, and it was past time to call it quits. Jake and I had just driven almost non-stop from our Florida homes and following an hour of shuteye had hit the road for a little r&r (herping). We had done pretty well, photographing a pretty male Baird’s rat snake at road edge and an equally pretty mottled rock rattler on a roadcut before changing venues.

Now, at 3 in the morning, we had decided to call it a night and had headed back for the motel when a ring-tailed “cat” at roadside caught our attention. I slowed to watch the little mammal and was just speeding up when we saw a solfugid (sun spider) on the yellow center line. Photo time. As I stepped from the car I noticed a small snake that was lying quietly on the center line only a few feet from the solfugid. Immediately recognizable as a long-nose, Rhinocheilus lecontei, the little snake was as obviously different as it was recognizable — it lacked even a vestige of the red pigmentation so typical of the species. It was merely black and white, anerythristic if you prefer.

What a great find at the end of a long and busy day.

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This Eastern Red Spotted Newt is a bundle of cuteness in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user DeanAlessandrini ! Be sure to tell DeanAlessandrini you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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By Herp News

On the afternoon of April 23rd, the Indonesian National Police stormed a warehouse in Medan, Sumatra’s largest port city. Six months of investigations led them there, the result of an undercover probe conducted jointly with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Wildlife Crimes Unit. Informant tips had paid off: The officers discovered a massive shipment of critically endangered Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica), a scaly, nocturnal Southeast Asian mammal. Five tons of frozen pangolins and 170 pounds of scales lay concealed behind a façade of frozen fish; 96 live animals were also confiscated. The haul, bound for China, was worth some $1.8 million on the black market. Officers arrested 60 year-old Soemiarto Boediono, who faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for trafficking a protected species. The pangolin almost appears to be a mythical beast, looking like a low-slung medieval- armored tank. But despite its wall of scales, which protects it from fierce predators such as lions, it is no match for illegal wildlife traffickers. Photo credit: Tikki Hywood Trust. Within two days, wildlife agents secretly released the surviving 88 pangolins into an unnamed reserve. Eight had perished, and they, along with the already dead animals and scales were dumped into a pit and burned. Customs officials across the globe regularly intercept smuggled pangolins and scales. They’re often hidden in other cargo, as with the Medan raid and another shipment found at Indonesia’s Surabaya Airport in July: 43 cartons of “fish” that contained 455 dead…

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By Herp News

North Africa may not spring to mind as the home of an ape population, but the Barbary Macaque (Macaca sylvanus) still dwells there. The only remaining primate north of the Sahara, the species once occupied the entirety of the northern tip of Africa. It now hangs on in isolated parts of Morocco and Algeria, while another small, introduced population lives in Gibraltar. Classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), M. sylvanus is threatened in the wild on all sides, by a loss of habitat developed for tourism, by local and international wildlife trafficking, hunting, and even cannabis cultivation. A macaque looks around, alert for passing cars and people, while grazing in a grassy clearing on the outskirts of Bouhachem Forest. Photo credit: Andrew Walmsley. Dr. Sian Waters, executive director and founder of Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation (BMAC), has studied this forgotten population for the last decade. “It seemed impossible to me that there were no primatologists studying a primate in its natural habitat occurring so close to Europe, but that was indeed the case,” she said in an interview with Mongabay (read in full below). Dr. Waters started BMAC in 2009, when she determined that local negative views of the macaque were contributing to their perilous decline. “Our main problem is being taken seriously at all levels of Moroccan society,” explained Waters. “Macaques are objects of derision, and trying to discuss them with groups of shepherds initially…

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All that stripey creamy goodness can only start our week off right! Such a beautiful corn snake take center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user draybar ! Be sure to tell draybar you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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While India is technologically well developed in urban areas, it is also a country dominated by many superstitions regarding it’s beautiful gifted and diverse fauna.

Nagpanchami, an Indian festival very true to its name, is celebrated to worship the Nagas, or Cobras, as these creatures have a great significance in Indian mythology. Strange but true, as a part of the worship ceremonies, cobras are offered milk, as well as a variety of spices, which is not food for cobras, in fact any snake in the world. At times, devotees are seen pouring bowls of milk over the snake’s head, and sprinkling the head with haldi (turmeric), kumkum (saffron) and other powdered spices that form the worship rituals. The milk and the different spices enter through nostrils into lungs often causing a slow and painful death.

These religious ceremonies are difficult to stop because people have been following them for centuries, even though they have been outlawed.It’s my feeling that people don’t worship them because of the spiritual connection, they worship it out of fear, the fear of getting bitten by Nag.
Photo: saleel gharpure
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Old school.

If you knew Tommy Yarborough you’re pretty much old school. Tommy was old school. Tommy was a herp legend, who spent over 3 decades traveling from herp spot to herp spot, catching snakes, lizards, turtles and more for his Yarbrough Snake Ranch in Eastaboga Alabama. Back in Alabama he and his wife Mary Ann would put on reptile shows for schools, scouts, church groups and more, entertaining and educating thousands of kids over the years, and starting many a herper down the path.

An early brochure for the Yarbrough Snake Ranch advertises that the “excitement and mysteries of nature are brought to life” — including “cobras (Indian, African and Taiwan), pythons, rattlesnakes, boa constrictors, cottonmouth water moccasins, copperheads, African puff adder, king snakes, rat snakes and tropical snakes.”

Today his daughter, Rebecca Yarbrough Tucker, continues Tommy’s reptile legacy in Alabama. She has help from her husband, Ken, who helps her care for the more than 300 snakes and other animals at the family’s home in Eastaboga and two volunteers who help with the shows. She donates half of the proceeds of each show to the schools, just as her father did.

The Yarbroughs will be remembered at a special “Reptiles Alive!” show on Saturday August 29 as part of the Anniston Museum of Natural History’s annual Museum Day celebration. Museum admission, programs and activities will be free. To read more, check out the full article at The Anniston Star

Editors note – I met Tommy and Mary Ann several times on the River Road and in Langtry in the late eighties and early nineties. Tommy was a “fast” cruiser and would barrel down the road at 60-70 miles per hour in a big van with ammunition crates roped to the top for the rattlesnakes. Tommy was a character remembered by all that met him. …read more
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By Herp News

Conservationists across the globe seek sustainable, effective means of reducing human-carnivore conflict which can result in the death of people, livestock and wildlife, as farmers and herders who lose valuable animals turn against local wildlife and encourage its elimination by poachers or governments. In a New York Times op-ed in response to the outrage over Cecil the lions, Zimbabwean national Goodwell Nzou eloquently explained how human-carnivore conflict manifests itself on the communities that surround protected areas. Conflict with carnivores is consistently ranked among the greatest threats to lions and other iconic predators across Africa. Paul Thomson is the managing director for Ewaso Lions, a non-profit group operating in northern Kenya working to conserve large carnivores. The group has used several unique approaches to address the conflict between people and carnivores in the Laikipa district of Kenya.  These include several mobile phone-based systems to bring a larger group of stakeholders into the conservation effort and working with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to develop a new predator deterrent light system. We talked with Paul about Ewaso’s strategy for addressing human-carnivore conflict and how he sees technology fitting into community-based conservation efforts. Answers have been edited for clarity and length. Nashipai, perhaps the most well known lioness in Samburu National Reserve, lies on the bank of the Ewaso Nyiro. Photo by Ewaso Lions WildTech: Can you give us a brief overview of Ewaso Lions and the kinds of issues you work on? Paul Thomson: Ewaso Lions is a community-based conservation…

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By Herp News

Eight months after a lecturer at an Indonesian university posted to Facebook about hunting and killing a pair of black macaques for his Christmas dinner, advocates for the critically endangered primates are wondering why the case, which was reported to the police, has yet to be processed. They fear that if the man, Devy Sondakh, is not prosecuted, hunters will continue to target the Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra), whose population has declined dramatically due to habitat loss and the bushmeat trade. The creature is considered a delicacy on the predominantly Christian island of Sulawesi, where the local Minahasan people have a reputation for eating just about anything that moves. The species is the same one that caught the limelight last year when a female took the famous “monkey selfies” that became the center of a copyright dispute. Yunita Siwi of the Save the Yaki Foundation – “yaki” is what the macaques are called in Indonesian – said the delay indicates a lack of commitment by the police to crack down on wildlife crime. Stephan Milyoski Lentey of the Macaca Nigra Project, which studies the creature out of a research station in North Sulawesi province, also urged the authorities to act. “If nothing happens with the case, there is a chance that hunting of the yaki will increase, because the perpetrator has a doctorate in law,” Stephan said. “Don’t forget this case.” A spokesman for the North Sulawesi Police told Mongabay-Indonesia the case would be processed under the 1990 Conservation…

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By Herp News

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 1997, the government of Botswana began evicting San and Bakgalagadi people from their homelands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve out of concern that the groups’ hunter-gatherer way of life was harming wildlife. Since then, local and international advocacy groups have been engaged in an arduous struggle to enable the groups to return. Domestic activists face harsh consequences from the state, including arrest, beating, and alleged torture, while foreign activists on their behalf face arrest, visa restriction, and expulsion from the country. As the San and Bakgalagadi and their advocates prepare their next legal offensive under the threat of government reprisals, they are raising questions not only about the value of human rights in Botswana, but also about how best to steward the country’s rich natural resources. They argue that the indigenous groups, making their living on the land with traditional hunting and gathering lifestyles, are far better able to preserve biodiversity than contemporary conservation approaches, such as wildlife-only parks. A place called home The Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), a massive wilderness roughly twice the size of Massachusetts, was established in 1961 under the Fauna Conservation Proclamation in what was then the British-controlled Bechuanaland Protectorate. Map of Botswana shows Central Kalahari Game Reserve and New Xade, a resettlement camp for people displaced from the reserve. Map credit: Google Maps. The reserve was set up prior to Botswana’s political independence in 1966 to ensure that the indigenous San and Bantu Bakgalagadi populous would remain stable…

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By Herp News

A groundbreaking Bolivian scientific expedition, Identidad Madidi, has found a bizarre bat along with a new species of big-headed or robber frog (Oreobates sp. nov.) from the Craugastoridae family in Madidi National Park.

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It’s ten ‘o’clock in the morning, I’m sitting on the couch doing some writing and Frankie is at the backdoor his nose pushed into the glass and his eyes peering into the window wondering when I am going to open the door because it’s 84º F and he is getting a little warm.

Warm, Frankie, not hot. It’s not hot until after noon. Go find some shade!

We’ve spent quite a bit of quality time together over the last month since his injury.He’s come to expect my attention a bit more than usual.

Since his foot injury early July, and hot or not, I’ve been his observant companion and caretaker watching his ever move and spending more time with him than almost ever before.

How much time? Besides the five hour drive to Birmingham and the five hour drive back to Mobile, I follow him whenever he is outside guarding him from further injury. Every evening I’ve escort him into the house to sleep, and every morning walk him back outside.

Without fail, I sneak into his sleeping area up to a dozen times each night to see if he is okay and to see how cute he looks when he is sleeping. I’ve also discovered that indeed sulcata tortoise sleep restlessly because, due to insomnia, I often sleep in the guest room which is less than two feet from where Frankie sleeps when inside. I get jump-bolted woken each time he moves around at night.

Last night I woke to what sounded like raccoons tearing up the front porch. Still in a near-sleep state and not fully aware that I was only dressed only in my over-sized t-shirt (period!), I opened the front door and found no disturbance outside. The sound instead was Frankie turning around in his newspapers and hay.

Once again I risk indecent exposure to unsuspecting neighbors. Thanks, Frankie.

I do adore my time with Frankie and he is a good buddy, but I feel like the whole last six weeks were all about Frankie rather than the hubby, the house, my writing, the geckos or even the cat. It certainly hasn’t been about keeping up with needed showers after outdoor time with Frankie in near 100 degree temperatures.

It’s nearly noon and this blog has taken HOURS to write because I’ve been back and forth outside watching after Frankie.

Around two o’clock, Frankie was getting a bit hot so I turned his mister on to cool him off. The mister felt so good that I sat under the shade with Frankie sitting under my feet. We lounged around like that for a while and contemplated life.

If I didn’t love Frankie so much I would have a lot more free time.

Yeah, maybe. But then I would have missed this when I went out to check Frankie around 4 o’clock.

The last trip outside was very worth my time. Priceless. …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times

What a week! Don’t play dead like this hoggie in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user zmarchetti ! Go out and find some beauty this weekend and share it with us! Be sure to tell zmarchetti you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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By Herp News

Norway’s central bank is divesting the country’s $870 billion pension fund of its holdings in four Asian multinationals over rainforest destruction for palm oil in Southeast Asia, the bank announced yesterday. Two of the companies, steelmaker POSCO and its subsidiary Daewoo International Corp., are headquartered in South Korea. The others, Genting Bhd. and IJM Corp. Bhd., are Malaysian conglomerates. POSCO and Daewoo International were excluded for the activities of a subsidiary in Merauke, a district of Indonesia’s Papua province, where the central government intends to revive a controversial megaproject, the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE). The Korean firms take the bigger hit: at the end of 2014, Norway’s fund held a 0.91 percent stake in POSCO worth $198 million and a 0.28 percent stake in Daewoo International worth $9 million, according the fund’s Council of Ethics’ recommendation to divest from the two companies. As for the Malaysian companies, at the end of 2013 the fund held a 0.49 percent stake in IJM worth $12 million and a 0.52 percent stake in Genting, according to the recommendations to exclude them. Genting’s market capitalization today is about $6.5 billion. “The companies are excluded based on an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage,” Norges Bank, the central bank which manages the fund, said in a statement. “Before deciding to exclude a company, Norges Bank shall consider whether the use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited. The Executive Board concludes that it is…

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By Herp News

Wildlife poaching has grown in recent years to unprecedented levels and now threatens the existence of several iconic and ecological valuable species in Africa. Of these, the endangered white and black rhinos are perhaps under the greatest threat. Wildlife rangers charged with protecting these animals are typically outgunned by poaching gangs that are often associated with or directly linked to terrorist groups. Conservationists have adjusted their anti-poaching strategies, looking for new ways to combat poaching by harnessing new and emerging technologies. Independent tech developers have also stepped in to offer their services. As recently reported by the Washington Post, these efforts have had mixed results, and a number of tech-driven strategies are designed by groups without the knowledge and awareness of on-the-ground conditions to make a compatible device. A white rhino grazes in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Rhino horn from African countries is currently valued at USD $100,000/kg, more than it’s weight in gold. Photo by Sue Palminteri An example of this trend is the recently publicized tracking system with a camera made to fit inside a rhino horn. The device, called the Real-time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device (RAPID) and developed by the UK-based nonprofit Protect, comprises a heart-rate monitor embedded in the rhino’s skin, a camera implant in the rhino’s horn, and a GPS-enabled collar. If a rhino’s heart rate rises or falls abnormally quickly, the system will alert operators who can remotely activate the camera in the rhino’s horn to see what’s going on around…

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By Herp News

[dropcap type=”5″]C[/dropcap]limb into a canoe at dawn, paddle into the reed beds of Madagascar’s largest wetland, and with luck you could see a unique primate: the Alaotra Gentle Lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis). Known locally as the bandro and described by Gerald Durrell as a “honey-coloured teddy bear”, these lemurs spend their entire lives within the cyperus and reed stems of the marsh around Lake Alaotra in Eastern Madagascar. “What really fascinates me [is] that this lemur species is the only primate that lives constantly on water,” Patrick Waeber, of Madagascar Wildlife Conservation (MWC) told mongabay.com. Waeber, also a lecturer at ETH Zurich, knows the species better than most, first studying their social behavior in 2000. “It was during over 160 sampling hours that I initially came to know this compelling lemur species intimately.” The bandro is the largest of the gentle lemurs, weighing a little over 2.5 pounds. Their dense fur grows grey on face, chest, and ears; a rich brown on head and back. A long tail helps with balance on the floating vegetation of the marsh. The animals live in small territorial family groups, and, as is typical of many lemurs, females are dominant. The Alaotra Gentle Lemur is the only primate that lives exclusively within a wetland habitat. Photo credit Toby Nowlan. People pressure driving decline With their range extending to just 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres), their population declining, and habitat highly threatened, the species has been classified as Critically Endangered by the International…

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By Herp News

The last Sumatran rhinoceros in the Malaysian wild has died, the latest grim milestone for a species on the brink of extinction. No more than 100 of the creatures are thought to remain in the forests of Indonesia, with nine more in captivity across Indonesia, Malaysia and the U.S. Scientists have found no sign of the creature in the wild in Malaysia since 2007, save for two females captured for breeding in 2011 and 2014, and they now consider it extinct in the wild there, according to a new paper in Oryx, a quarterly journal of biodiversity conservation. Soon, the last Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) at the Cincinnati Zoo in the U.S. will be moved to Indonesia, shifting the species’ hopes for survival squarely to the neighboring Southeast Asian nations whose cooperation in regard to the animals has not always gone smoothly. Ratu and her then four-day-old calf Andatu at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia. Photo courtesy of the International Rhino Foundation In 2009, the two governments agreed to treat the Bornean and Sumatran subspecies as a single species and bring the few remaining individuals together for breeding. But the initiative has struggled to get off the ground, and the Bornean rhinos remain separate from their Sumatran counterparts. “It is vital for the survival of the species that all remaining Sumatran rhinos are viewed as a metapopulation, meaning that all are managed in a single program across national and international borders in order to maximize…

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Having kept and bred Santa Cruz (Channel Island) gopher snakes, Pituophis catenifer pumila, for several years, I had become enamored with this smallest of the gopher snakes. Even though these snakes are of nervous demeanor and have an occasional tendency to huff, puff, and strike, their 28 to 34″ adult size makes them an easy gopher snake to handle.

Restricted in range to two of California’s Channel Islands (Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Island) there seems to still be a paucity of information on this snake’s preferred habitats. However, it is probable that like other forms of the gopher snake, the Santa Cruz subspecies is a habitat generalist that utilizes most if not all of the varied insular habitats–be they montane, pastoral or littoral.

The entire range of the Santa Cruz gopher snake is now under the protection of the National Park Service and/or The Nature Conservancy. Therefore this tiny gopher snake can be difficult to acquire.

And how tiny is “tiny”? As mentioned above the adult length seldom exceeds 30″ and hatchlings are 6 to 8″ in length. For a gopher, that’s tiny!

More photos under the jump…
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Don’t mind the raspberry from this Teratoscincus scincus in our herp photo of the day just love the cuteness, uploaded by kingsnake.com user zmarchetti ! Be sure to tell zmarchetti you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Today is Nag Panchami, a traditional day of worship of snakes or serpents observed by Hindus throughout India and also in Nepal. On the Nag Panchami day Nag, cobras, and snakes are worshiped with milk, sweets, flowers, lamps and even sacrifices. Images of Nag deities made of silver, stone, wood, or paintings on the wall are first bathed with water and milk and then worshiped with the reciting of mantras. The piety observed on this day is considered a sure protection against the fear of snake bite. At many places, real snakes are worshipped and fairs held. On this day digging the earth is taboo as it could kill or harm snakes which reside in the earth.

In the past people would gather serpents, and snake charmers would bring their finest snakes to the temples, but changes in India’s laws have made snake charming and snake possession illegal, changing the way the event is celebrated for most. Though some still try to celebrate the old ways, authorities keep a watch over events, confiscating and releasing snakes used by the celebrants.

“It’s the cobra and rat snakes that are most commonly displayed by snake charmers. We urge people to be alert and capture their pictures and alert the local police station or snake rescue helplines so that they can be nabbed and the snake be freed from torture.” Nitin Walmiki – Eco-Echo

To read more about Nag Panchami click here!. kingsnake.com gallery photo by BakerReptiles …read more
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By Herp News

The expected impact of climate change on North American lizards is much worse than first thought. A team of biologists has discovered that lizard embryos die when subjected to a temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit even for a few minutes. They also discovered a bias in previous studies, which ignored early life stages such as embryos. Embryonic lizards are immobile and cannot cool off when surrounding soil becomes hot.

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This was a time in summer when I as usual was free and always ready to go herping. Diveghat is half an hour away from my house where before the dawn deer’s were spotted and every Sunday I rode there in the hope to see something new and that day I was lucky enough to encounter something.

As you know saw-scaled viper is ranked as one of the 4 venomous snake in India and smallest on of all. I think by now you people may have guessed who it is. Yes! It is the saw scaled viper-the venomous and the tiniest. I suppose of you my friends must be remembering about the Russell’s viper and its young ones which I mentioned in one of my previous blogs.

So as usual I arrived at the place, saw some deer’s and started with my search of scorpions and saw-scaled vipers. The best part about herping in this place is that you don’t need to observe the bushes or enter in a dense forest, the only thing you need to do is checkout under small rocks by lifting them so this makes your herping a bit easy.

In the starting I found a couple of scorpions and centipedes but I had a feeling that some bigger surprise is waiting for me. Within half an hour I encountered one of the best moments of my herping, a healthy female saw-scaled viper with her six young ones. What a moment of happiness, can’t define that happiness in words. After seeing this family I was completely refreshed, the tiredness vanished within seconds. We clicked some beautiful pictures and left them, to be frank I wanted to take all of them home and nurture them but couldn’t do so because after all it was mother nature’s belonging.
Photo: riyaz khoja
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Happy Hump Day! May this adorable pair of Lygodactylus williamsi in our herp photo of the day brighten your midweek, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jamesmatthews ! Be sure to tell jamesmatthews you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Alligator lizards are becoming more popular as reptile pets and it is easy to see why in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SalS ! Be sure to tell SalS you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Alligator lizards are becoming more popular as reptile pets and it is easy to see why in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SalS ! Be sure to tell SalS you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking information relevant to a proposal to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as an endangered species. The flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) inhabits desert habitats in southeastern California, the extreme southwestern portion of Arizona and the adjacent portions of northeastern Baja California Norte and northwestern Sonora, Mexico.

In June 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to formally list the flat-tailed horned lizard as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act. As part of the status review process, CDFW is soliciting information from the public regarding the species’ ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to reproduction or survival, adequacy of existing management and recommendations for management of the species. Comments, data and other information can be submitted in writing to:

California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Nongame Wildlife Program
Attn: Laura Patterson
1812 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

Comments may also be submitted by email to wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov. If submitting comments by email, please include “flat-tailed horned lizard” in the subject heading.
To read the full press release click here. kingsnake.com gallery photo by Duner.

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Patti and I sat on the screened deck this evening (06/03/15) and marveled at the agility of the many bats (probably most were Mexican free-tailed bats) and several dozen dragonflies overhead. We were in the midst of a flying ant emergence and the predatory insects and bats were taking full advantage of the seasonal repast. On convoluted flyways some 30 or 40 feet up, both had become active while the sun was still visible on the western horizon and were still wheeling and reeling when it became too dark to follow their aerial antics.

I came inside to make a few notes on the sightings and happened to glance around at the windows. Not only was it a bat and dragonfly night, it was a gecko night as well. There was at least one Mediterranean gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, on every single window and several windows hosted 2 or 3 geckos. Every gecko was actively foraging on the ants and other small insects drawn to the lights.

The temperature was a warm 81F and the humidity 85%, apparently providing ideal conditions for our nocturnal friends. And I noted that the dragonflies, insects I had always thought of as exclusively diurnal, were still active when it had become too dark for me to follow their antics. This had been better than watching the Blue Angels and a whole lot less noisy. Some evenings just can’t be improved upon.

More photos under the jump…
Continue reading “Bats, dragonflies, and geckos” …read more
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By Herp News

A snake moves without legs by the scales on its belly gripping the ground. It generates friction at the points needed to move forwards only and prevents its scales from being worn off by too much friction. Researchers of KIT have found a way to transfer this feature to components of movable systems. In this way, durability of hip prostheses, computer hard disks or smartphones might be enhanced.

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By Herp News

Exposure to road salt, as it runs off into ponds and wetlands where it can concentrate — especially during March and early April, when frogs are breeding — may increase the size of wood frogs, but also shorten their lives, a study by biologists concludes.

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You’re low crawling through the underbrush, geared up, M4 rifle in hand, helmet hanging low over your brow, and sweat dripping into your eyes. Then you see it.

Right in your path. A snake.

From the jungles of the Philippines and Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, members of the armed forces have long encountered snakes, often at the most inopportune times, and in the most inconvenient places.

“The students, they see them time and time again,” said Staff Sgt. Heath Hensley, a Ranger instructor and member of the reptile team. “You’ll hear them yell out ‘Snake!’ most of the time, and that starts a tactical pause.”

How does the military deal with this problem? Snake school.

Camp Rudder, part of the sprawling Eglin Air Force Base complex, is home to the U.S. Army Rangers elite leadership school. The school maintains a reptile house here that is incorporated into training as students undergo the third and final phase of Ranger School. Its role is to teach students how to overcome their fears of snakes and other reptiles and identify them when they see them. To read more about this fascinating and little known part of military training click here and read the full article at The Washington Post.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. John Bainter/ U.S. Air Force) …read more
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By Herp News

Two traders of beaks from the helmeted hornbill were arrested in Sumatra, Indonesia, on June 12. During the arrest, authorities confiscated 12 beaks and the two suspects, known only as ZMS and ALB, confessed to selling over 120 beaks within the preceding six months. The pair is thought to have organized an operation involving 30 hunters who poached birds in the island’s threatened Leuser ecosystem, including inside Gunung Leuser National Park.The arrest took place in the Langkat region, a 3-hour drive from Medan, the largest city on the island of Sumatra. Langkat is notorious as an entry point for poachers heading into the national park. The arrest was part of a joint investigation carried out by forest rangers from the national park, the Indonesian government, and the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates a Wildlife Crimes Unit [WCU] in Indonesia.

‘The arrest shows our commitment to protecting Gunung Leuser National Park’s ecosystem which has been placed under our management. We will continue to take firm action against all poaching, destruction and encroachment of the conservation forest and work hard to preserve and protect this last stronghold for biodiversity” Andi Basrul, the park’s head, said in a statement. Indonesia is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, and is home to thousands of weird and wonderful species. The helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) fits right in. It has a wingspan of approximately five feet, a featherless and wrinkly neck, and a distinctive casque, or decorative growth, atop its upper bill — its “helmet.”The birds live on a number of Indonesian islands, as well as in Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. But the flourishing illegal trade in their casques, as well as the destruction of their natural habitat, is diminishing their numbers and the species is now listed as near threatened by the IUCN.In 2013, Yokyok Hadiprakarsa, a conservationist and independent hornbill expert, found that at least 500 adult helmeted hornbills were killed each month in the province of West Kalimantan alone. He also showed that between 2012 and 2014, 1,100 helmeted hornbill casques were confiscated by authorities in Indonesia en route to China.”The poaching of helmeted hornbill has boomed among local hunters,” Dwi N. Adhiasto, program manager of the WCU in Indonesia, told mongabay.com. He believes that the reason behind it is simple. “Unlike the casques of other hornbill species, which are typically hollow and extremely light, the casques of [the] helmeted hornbill [are] a solid block of an ivory-like substance,” he said.

The demand for hornbill casques comes from China, where it is used in traditional medicines or fashioned into valuable souvenirs. Photo credit: …read more
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By Herp News

On August 11, the eve of World Elephant Day, a group of 250 scientists from varied backgrounds, disciplines and organizations around the world sent a letter to Barack Obama urging for the closure of commercial ivory trade in the United States.The letter, according to Wildlife Conservation Society, was conceived and circulated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Born Free USA, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Investigation Agency, Humane Society International, The Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Wildlife Conservation Society, and other groups.

“Members of the scientific community are particularly aware of the destructive effects the ivory trade is having on populations of African elephants,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Vice President of International Policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society and a signatory to the letter. “It is our hope that we can use our expertise to convince policy makers at home and abroad of the need for these regulations and to close all domestic ivory markets.”In just the last 30 years, the elephant population in Africa has already been reduced from around 1.2 million to about 420,000. And a recent study found that 100,000 African elephants were killed between 2010-2012 alone. The scientists behind the letter are in agreement that the illegal killing of elephants for their ivory is a primary cause of these major declines.A new analysis indicates that between 2002 and 2013, 65 percent of the central Africa’s forest elephants – 200,000 individuals – were killed. The numbers are staggering and translate to one elephant being poached every fifteen minutes for ivory. If this poaching trend is not reversed, elephants will be erased from large areas of their range in Africa within our lifetime.

Elephants in Kruger South Africa. Photo by Rhett Butler.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to know that ivory comes from dead elephants,” said Teresa Telecky, Ph.D., director of the wildlife department at Humane Society International. “We’ve come together as scientists to ask the U.S. government to end this destructive trade once and for all.”On July 25, during his trip to Kenya, President Obama announced the pending release of the long-awaited “4(d)” rule revision on African elephant ivory. In their letter, the scientists commended the proposed rule and recognized it as a way to help guarantee that the U.S. is no longer contributing to the global trafficking of elephant ivory.The 4(d) rule change would prohibit most ivory sales in interstate or foreign commerce – with exemptions for authentic antiques and certain manufactured items containing miniscule quantities of ivory – and leave in place other import/export and sales restrictions that the US Fish & Wildlife Service implemented last year. Importantly, prospective sellers would be required to show proof that their ivory items meet the criteria in order to be granted an exemption. However, possession and …read more
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By Herp News

[dropcap type=”4″]W[/dropcap]hen you count off the cat species that roam Africa – leopards, lions, cheetahs – you could be forgiven for not listing the African golden cat (Caracal aurata). This small, elusive forest dweller easily slips by unnoticed, and until very recently, failed to show up on the radar screens of most conservationists.Uncertainty and mystery shroud the golden cat: it’s one of the world’s least-studied felines. The

Small and powerful, the golden cat primarily hunts rodents on the forest floor. Photo credit: David Mills/ Panthera

“Since 2010, we have conducted seven camera surveys and accumulated nearly 300 independent golden cat captures in over 18,000 trap days,” David Mills told mongabay.com.One of the first thing scientists learned is that the golden cat is far more vulnerable to extinction than anyone knew.An update by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) just this year raised the stakes for the African golden cat from Near Threatened to Vulnerable. The rainforest-loving species has been hard hit by deforestation, with an estimated 30 percent loss in numbers over the past 15 years (that’s three golden cat generations). “Additionally, the exacerbation of these threats due to population growth, projected mining activities and forest clearance for oil palm plantations will likely cause further reduction,” by at least a further 30 percent in the next 15 years, reports the IUCN. Indeed, researchers say the cat disappears from forests with a heavy human presence.Unravelling an enigmaPrevious studies have suggested around 10,000 golden cats are left in the wild, but nobody is sure: it’s not a figure scientists Bahaa-el-din and Mills verified with their research. The species roams the equatorial forests of Africa over two separate regions ­– one stretching across Central Africa from Uganda west to Gabon, and the other in West Africa stretching roughly from Ghana west to Guinea. Its main stronghold is in the forests of the Congo Basin.Though the name suggests otherwise, the golden cat is not golden. Blends of golden/reddish-brown, grey and even black have been recorded. There’s some suggestion that the cat’s color may even change over time. One African golden cat is said to have changed color in captivity, but died soon after, with the change in hue possibly brought on by a special condition, rather than a common trait.The color variants confused scientists early on as they tried to classify the cat’s taxonomy. A similarity in size and appearance with the Asian golden cat initially placed it in the genus Profelis, though others designated it Felis. Recent molecular studies proved both to be mistaken; the African golden cat is unequivocally genetically closer to the caracal – a medium sized wildcat also known as the African lynx. This led scientists to rename the species Caracal aurata. The designation remains somewhat controversial, with some researchers still preferring to use Profelis aurata. The animal’s taxonomy is currently under review by the IUCN Cat Specialist Group.An adult African golden cat is small …read more
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By Herp News

No piece of conservation hardware has received more attention in the media than drones, a.k.a. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), yet there is disagreement about their applicability to various conservation applications. The use of drones for enhancing anti-poaching is perhaps the most controversial application, with little empirical data to back some of the media claims and hopeful speculation.To provide some background and to help demystify the potential of drones to help monitor, study, and conserve wildlife and habitats, wildtech.mongabay.com has invited a recognized expert in the field, Dr. Nir Tenenbaum, the Director of

Group photo of drones at a Naval Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Air Demo.    Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain

Part 1 History, Theory, and PracticeIntroductionJust a decade ago, drones—technically known as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)—were mysterious devices used by military forces to conduct covert aerial intelligence and surveillance missions formerly limited to manned aircraft. In the military, drones have served and continue to function as expandable devices, known in the industry as “platforms”, for undesirable missions denoted as “the dull, the dirty and the dangerous”. However, until recently, drones rarely made it to the mainstream news or sparked widespread public interest and concern.Several trends have converged in recent years to introduce UAS to a wider range of civilian users. Chief among these changes was awareness. Since the 1970s, there has been a steady increase in the number of UAS-related publications. Recent partial success of UAVs in anti-terrorism missions has brought them even more into the public eye.At the same time, the increased availability of information on the Internet gave people everywhere the ability to learn about, discuss, and access technology that was until recently deemed “for professionals only”. The same time period has seen increased availability of hardware and software, with easier access to open-source, low-cost materials and components.With the proliferation of open-source autopilots and the dropping prices for sensors, many companies have jumped to incorporate UAS’s into their business. These range from delivery of goods by big players such as Google and Amazon.com, to security services, surveyors, inspectors, farmers, photographers and film makers. In just the last few years, UAS have begun to pop up in conservation activities.UAS’s in nature conservationThe dramatic increase in forest destruction and wildlife poaching has encouraged wildlife scientists and conservationists to explore the potential for using drones in surveillance and anti-poaching activities. For many years, the conservation world has lagged behind other sectors technologically – devoting tight budgets to immediate needs like putting boots and vehicles on the ground left no funding to explore and introduce advanced tools to improve wildlife management.

UAS footage of elephants on the move in Tanzania. UAS’s are increasingly used for conservation applications – their use for anti-poaching is one the most ardently debated.  Photo credit: Randy Jay Braun

Optimism about the potential of a commercial/civilian UAS market attracted many new …read more
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By Herp News

In what conservationists are hailing as a major breakthrough in efforts to protect Sumatra’s fast-dwindling lowland rainforests, the Indonesian government on Wednesday finally approved an ecosystem restoration license for more than 44,000 hectares (110,000 acres) of forest bordering Bukit Tigapuluh, a national park renowned for its rich wildlife.After

WWF map showing the new ecosystem restoration concession. The license granted to PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh has been hotly contested for nearly a decade, with several companies vying for the right to manage the area. A major breakthrough came last year when WWF and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), whose supplier RHM was a contender for the license, reached an understanding, paving the way forward for PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh to win the concession.

The initiative should better secure critical habitat for endangered elephants, tigers, orangutans, rhinos, and tapirs in Bukit Tigapuluh, which is effectively an island amid large-scale deforestation across Sumatra. Satellite data shows that Sumatra lost more than half its lowland forests since 1985.Given the dire state of Sumatran forests, the development was immediately welcomed by conservationists involved with the initiative.”Sumatra has reached a tipping point in the fight to save its wildlife. Without adequate protection, many of the planet’s most iconic species face an uncertain future,” said Rainforest Trust CEO Paul Salaman in a statement. “This new purchase is a major step in the right direction. It demonstrates that concrete land protection can still be achieved in Sumatra in an economical and effective way.””This incredible place—where elephants, orangutans and tigers coexist in the wild—is also one of the most threatened,” said actor Leonardo DiCaprio in a statement. “Our work to protect this area is an example of what can be accomplished when concerned organizations, governments and individuals work together to create a future where both nature and people can thrive.” DiCaprio is a member of WWF’s board and the founder of the foundation bearing his name.

Sumatran tiger cubs. Bukit Tigapuluh is famous for its diversity of mammals, including Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, Asian tapir, sun bear, siamang, Sumatran surili, Sunda loris, and clouded leopard, among others. Photo courtesy of WWF.

Sumatran elephants. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Baby Sumatran orangutan. Photo by Rhett A. Butler

Conservationists say the project offers the potential to help specific animal species, including Sumatran elephants that have suffered substantial range reduction and orangutans that are currently stuck in rehabilitation centers due to their habitat being destroyed for palm oil and pulp production.“If elephants have to live in hills within a national park they will simply starve to death,” said Leif Cocks, President of Yayasan Konservasi Ekosistem Hutan Sumatera (KEHUS), referring to the fact that most of Bukit Tigapuluh — which is also …read more
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The day when I purchased my first book of snakes and reptiles and saw the picture of Leith’s sand snake Psammophis leithi , I paused for a minute and stared at the picture for a while and I felt in love with this stripped reptilian fellow. Whenever I used to meet any new snake rescuer in my area, one thing which I used to tell every new rescuer I met “dude if you rescue a Leith’s sand snake, please call me” and finally I got to see one.

The Leith’s sand snake is a semi venomous or rear fanged snake found in India and luckily also found in my state Maharashtra. The reason I like this snake so much is because of its insane color pattern, It has a light brown slender body with dark brown or dark grey stripes on the upper body. If I describe the color pattern in my words I would rather say “a slender rope made of gold with 4 horizontal black stripes painted on it”. These snakes mainly feed on rats, lizards and small birds. The maximum length of this snake is 80cm and it is oviparous by nature, lays 3-12 eggs.

I won’t say that these snakes are the most beautiful snakes of India but I would definitely call this one “the attention seeker”.
Photo: Saleel Gharpure
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