Do you support this petition calling for the green iguana to be designated a domesticated animal?

From change.org:

Having this designation would afford them many advantages such as the protection under the humane laws that dogs and cats already enjoy. It would raise public awareness and education about the Green Iguana and that would give it more respect and better care like other domestics.

The definition of “Domesticated” will vary with every person that you speak to, but we agree with the one that is used legally by most city ordinances that states that it shall mean: bred for and adapted to living dependently in an urban household setting.

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A little “smile” to brighten your day from this lovely elongated tortoise in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user TylerStewart!

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Ten crocodiles born in Sweden will be released in Cuba, their parents’ native habitat.

From Global News:

The Skansen Zoo in Stockholm sent the reptiles to Cuba’s National Zoo in April to help encourage reproduction of the protected species native to the island.

Hiram Fernandez, a veterinarian at the Cuban zoo, says the reptiles will be released soon in Zapata Swamp, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the capital. Their ranks have been thinned by hunting and diminishing habitat, with few examples of Crocodylus rhombifer still found in Zapata Swamp and Cuba’s Isle of Youth.

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One of my favorite pit stops whenever Gordy and I visited Florida was Tarpon Zoo, now long out of business. Located in Tarpon Springs, about mid-distance between the Everglades and the Georgia state line on the Gulf side of Florida, Trudie, Mike, and George specialized in neotropical mammals, birds, and herps. Although they billed themselves as a zoo, the facility was actually a wildlife dealership that stocked everything from tapirs and macaws to Suriname toads, anacondas, bushmasters, and black caiman.

In fact, it was at Tarpon Zoo that I first saw and became enamored of baby black caiman, the most alligator-looking and by far the largest of the several caiman species. But the baby black caiman, with their yellowish faces and dark mandibular blotches, were even cuter than a baby alligator.

With only a mention that over the years black caiman have become a species rarely seen in both private and zoo collections in the United States, I’ll fast forward about 60 years to 2015. On our winter Amazonian ecotour of 2015, I had made the sighting of a baby black caiman one of our top priorities.

And as luck would have it, crocodilian expert Flavio and a few sidekicks accompanied us on that trip. I explained to Flavio that over the years several adults of the species had surfaced next to our boats as we searched after dark for anurans, but despite several tries to find a baby at a known “nursery” locale, we had failed.

Flavio and others took on the challenge.

Edwin, one of our Peruvian guides, scouted out the easiest and best way to get through the varzea to the nursery pond. The route involved an arduous trek, kayaking, then portaging the craft, then more kayaking, all the while circumnavigating rainforest treefalls.

And it was thanks to these Herculean efforts on the parts of others that I, over sixty years after first seeing baby black caiman in captivity, got to see a couple of dozen babies of this coveted taxon in the wild.

Life is good.

Continue reading “The search is on for a baby black caiman” …read more
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Who says reptile pets can’t give us joy!? Certainly not us! Kelly’s smile and joy is with his banana pectinata shines through in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user KellyP!

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By Herp News

In 1914 the world’s last passenger pigeon died. Nicknamed, Martha, she was not killed by hunters, but simply old age. With her passing, the passenger pigeon fell into extinction. A hundred years before Martha’s death, however, the passenger pigeon may have been the most populous bird in the world with a population often estimated in the billions. Now, conservationists warn history may be repeating itself.

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Raising healthy chicks is always a challenge, but in a cold, fish-free Arctic lake, it’s an enormous undertaking. Red-throated Loon parents must constantly fly back and forth between their nesting lakes and the nearby ocean, bringing back fish to feed their growing young, and a new study suggests that the chicks grow fast and fledge while they’re still small so that they can reach the food-rich ocean themselves and give their parents a break.

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By Herp News

Raising healthy chicks is always a challenge, but in a cold, fish-free Arctic lake, it’s an enormous undertaking. Red-throated Loon parents must constantly fly back and forth between their nesting lakes and the nearby ocean, bringing back fish to feed their growing young, and a new study suggests that the chicks grow fast and fledge while they’re still small so that they can reach the food-rich ocean themselves and give their parents a break.

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A researcher who generates three-dimensional computer models of animals using a micro-CT scanner found that in analyzing a frog specimen, another animal was present inside the frog — another frog.

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By Herp News

A researcher who generates three-dimensional computer models of animals using a micro-CT scanner found that in analyzing a frog specimen, another animal was present inside the frog — another frog.

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In the seas of India you can find magnificent creatures and underwater activities.

Found in coastal areas, the file snake, Achrochordus granulatus, is a non-venomous sea snake and an exception to my expectations that sea snakes are usually venomous — the reason I consider it a friendly inhabitant of the sea!

As the file snake is exceptional, it has a beautiful grey or black body with white or yellow bands patched, with its dark grey head and white spots embroiderd on it. This species is completely aquatic and nearly helpless on land.

The most interesting thing is that this species varies between sexes in feeding habits, the males actively hunt prey whereas the females sit and wait as ambush predators. The maximum length of the file snake is 120 cm, and it is viviparous by nature. The young snakes have distinct white bands.

I have encountered this beauty only once during my morning walk at beach in Mumbai. It was unable to move on dry sand so I just picked it up, handled it for a minute or two, and released it in the sea. One of the memorable morning walks of my life.

Photo: Riyaz Khoja

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Uluru skinks are the first lizards to show familial behavior, including raising several generations of offspring in a single family home.

From mongabay.com:

Adult Uluru skinks pair for consecutive years and may raise several generations in a single burrow constructed by the parents. Not unlike humans, multiple generations of skinks live in the shared home, with parents and children contributing to the maintenance and expansion of their home. The burrows are up to thirteen meters in length, have twenty entrances, and contain designated latrines. Researcher found that skink families inhabited them for up to 7 years straight.

DNA testing of Uluru skinks reveals that young lizards sharing the same burrow are nearly all full siblings, who delay leaving the burrow to care for the family home. According to Macquarie University researcher Dr. Adam Stow this cooperative living arrangement is remarkable for lizards: “It’s an unusual case of parental care and also having the siblings cooperate [that] make[s] them possibly the word’s most social lizard.”

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“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!” While that may be true with chocolates, the work in genetics helps us know almost what is going to pop out of a clutch. But there is a great variety as seen in this clutch of boa constrictors in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user creptilia!

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By Herp News

Mukhtar used to be an illegal logger. Now he coordinates community forest rangers in Indonesia’s Aceh province. His job involves preventing dangerous human-elephant encounters and helping communities protect themselves from environmental offenders – like Mukhtar once was.

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This week’s Herp Video shares an afternoon herping trip along a creek bed. Where there is water, there will be lots of life! Get yourself out this weekend and share your videos with us!

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Red and black? Black and yellow? Mimics in nature are clear with this pair of South American hognose from the same clutch in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Longhitano!

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By Herp News

For the first time conservationists have confirmed Indochinese tigers in Thailand’s Chaloem Ratanakosin National Park. In January, camera traps used by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Thailand’s Department of National Parks took a photo of a tigress, confirming what had only been rumors. A couple months later the camera traps photographed a male tiger in the same park.

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A new study has revealed that the Central African country of Gabon is providing an invaluable nesting ground for a vulnerable species of sea turtle considered a regional conservation priority.

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Following nearly five years of exploration in mountainous areas of the southern Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, a team of researchers has uncovered seven new species of a highly miniaturized, brightly colored frog genus known as Brachycephalus. Each species is remarkably endemic, being restricted to cloud forests in one or a few adjacent mountaintops, thus making them highly vulnerable to extinction, particularly due to shifts in the distribution of cloud forest due to climate change.

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Governor Kasich, we are the “Snake People” — also known as biologists, conservationists, and herpetologists!

All herpers, — conservatives, liberals, moderates, independents, green party, and whatever else may be your affiliation — must stand united to initiate the most vigorous grass roots campaign to publicly oppose the candidacy of Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio) for President of the United States.

On October 21, 2011, Governor John Kasich, by executive order, required a Dangerous Wild Animal Workgroup, within 39 days, to propose legislation regarding the regulation of “dangerous wild animals” in Ohio.

The workgroup recommendation was obviously predetermined. We know what happened regarding unreasonable restrictions being placed on responsible reptile owners; and that Governor Kasich was the driving force behind the Ohio DWA legislation (along with his friends at HSUS). Not only have Ohio herpers and exotic animal owners suffered (many moving out of Ohio), but we now have endured copy-cat legislation in West Virginia and who knows where else in the future.

Our numbers are not equivalent to those of some other groups, but due to our extreme passion for herpetology, our message to government officials and politicians has become loud and powerful: Don’t tread on us! As I wrote before, USARK’s preliminary injunction against USFWS has left the federal agency stunned. You had to be at the court hearings in Washington, DC to observe their sullen faces.

At the state level, USARK also laid down markers on behalf of reptile and amphibian owners. For example, a prolonged battle during 2014 and early 2015 resulted in the removal of all salamanders, tree frogs, clawed frogs, toads, turtles, large lizards, constrictor snakes, venomous snakes and crocodilians from the WV DWA list.

Then several weeks ago upon adjournment of a DWA Board meeting in WV, one of the DWA Board members politely asked those of us observing the meeting if we were “snake people.” On behalf of our contingency, I responded: “Yes, we are ‘snake people.'” One of our members then identified himself as an accomplished WV biologist-herpetologist. I wonder how they knew/guessed we were snake people?

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The long range forecast for the Houston region had called for one day of showers, light rain on the second day, and heavy rain for most of the third day. The high temperatures of about 45 degrees Fahrenheit on the first day rose on each of the next two to a high of 66 degrees Fahrenheit on the third day.

Sitting in northern Florida, some 850 miles east of Houston, Kenny and I decided that the conditions should induce breeding activities of at least four species of winter breeding anurans (3 species of chorus frog and one true frog) of which we both wanted digital format photos.

We piled into my old Toyota RAV4 and headed west to Texas, a state well known for weather vagaries. And three days of vagaries were exactly what we drove 850 miles to find.

The temperature the first day was actually summery but rather than showers, the rain that fell was very localized and was merely a single sprinkle that barely dampened the area. We did see three Strecker’s chorus frogs, Pseudacris streckeri, one of the 4 target species.

The second day was dry and cooler and we saw nothing. Rather than being the warmest of the three, the high temperature on the third day was now forecast be cooler, rainy in the morning, and then clearing and plummeting to near freezing that night. We decided to wait until the next morning, assess the situation and then decide whether to stay or skedaddle eastward.

At daybreak it was dry and temperatures had dropped significantly. By noon it was dry, very windy and cold. We left, our score remaining only one out of 4 of the targets.

But it was a start.
Continue reading “Fumbled forecast and Strecker’s chorus frogs” …read more
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Unable to lay fertilized eggs without help, scientists have attempted the first artificial insemination of a softshell turtle.

From the New York Times:

“Even if we get just one or two hatchlings, I will be very happy,” said Gerald Kuchling, a project leader for the Turtle Survival Alliance, a nonprofit conservation organization. “Even a single one would give hope for the recovery of this magnificent animal. It would be a turn.”

Quite a turn, actually. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle — thought to be the largest freshwater turtle in the world — was once common in the Yangtze and Red Rivers. But by the late 1990s, pollution, hunting, dams and development had driven it to the brink of extinction.

There are only four known specimens remaining, and only one female — an 85-year-old resident of the Suzhou Zoo. For years, biologists have been trying to coax her and her 100-year-old mate to produce hatchlings. So far the pair have disappointed scientists, with the female laying clutch after clutch of unfertilized eggs.

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Proving that good things come in small packages, this field caught ringneck shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!

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By Herp News

Almost nothing is known about the Annamite striped rabbit. First described in 1999, this beautifully-colored rabbit is found in Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos, but—rarely seen and little-studied—it’s life history is a complete mystery. But Sarah Woodfin, a student at the University of East Anglia, got lucky when undertaking a three month research trip on the species. Really lucky.

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In a battle between an alligator and a truck, who would win?

From the Huffington Post:

When confronted by an oncoming truck on Thursday, an alligator in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, refused to back down. Instead, the reptile went on the attack, and proceeded to tear off the truck’s entire front bumper.

“I was coming home from my camp when an alligator crossed my path,” the driver of the truck told Jukin Media, a video licensing and production company. “I honestly thought he would back up and run the other way, when he did the exact opposite.”

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They say if you’re into studying or handling reptiles, you should be able to handle any species of reptile. Oddly, although I can handle almost any kind of snake, I’m a bit scared of lizards! (Although, despite my fear, I still think they’re beautiful.)

I usually only overcome my fear when the species is either rare or beautiful. That’s the case with the termite hill gecko (Hemidactylus triedrus), a species of gecko found in South Asia, and one of the rare lizards I’ve ever touched.

I was searching for some hump-nosed pit vipers with my teacher Iqbal Shaikh at night around 10 PM. I saw a movement in the dried leaves on the ground and I got a glimpse of a brownish tail. I assumed it was a hump-nosed pit viper.

I was the one to remove the leaves and clear the area so it would be easy to catch, and my teacher was the one who was going to grab it. As I cleared the area and removed the leaf, I saw it was a termite hill gecko.

At first, my expectations were shattered because I wanted to see a hump-nosed pit viper. However, the color of this gecko was so attractive it made me forget everything else. It was brown in color and had white dotted stripes on the back.

My teacher was the one to pick it up, and after watching him handling this beauty, I gained some confidence and handled it. I had the feeling you get when you defeat your fear. It was a great night, and we actually found a few hump-nosed pit vipers, which made me even happier!

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Always watching, this Toffeebelly Hognose is serene in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user hogboy!

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By Herp News

During the last couple years there have been persistent rumors and trickles of information that elephant poaching was running rampant in Tanzania as the government stood by and did little. Yesterday, the government finally confirmed the rumors: Tanzania’s savanna elephant population has dropped from 109,051 animals in 2009 to just 43,330 last year—a plunge of 60% in just five years.

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The little frog was sitting atop a frond well, up out of reach in a Bactris riparia (spiny palm).

Marisa jokingly told Emerson, the preserve manager, that she wanted the frog and taking her statement at face value, he set about getting it for her. A few minutes later Emerson called Marisa and showed her the frog, then sitting quietly on the crook of his snake hook.

The next morning Marisa, showed Kenny and me the frog. Neither of us were able to identify it to species. In fact, we even vacillated on genus, but eventually agreed on Pristimantis. Kenny just called it Pristimantis sp., I preferred Pristimantis sp. cf okendeni. Lots of pictures were taken.

After returning home, Kenny continued to attempt a positive identification, and thanks to AmphibiaWebEcuador he succeeded.

Marisa and Emerson had collected a species thought previously to be rare in and endemic to Ecuador – Pristimantis orphnolaemus, a small anuran best known as a canopy dweller in primary forest. Its finding has documented a new herpetofaunal species in Peru and it was found on Santa Cruz Forest Preserve.

Thanks to all for the efforts both afield and in researching the find.
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The Colombian Park Zoo and Purdue University are working together to help the Hellbenders, who are disappearing from the wild in Indiana.

From WLFI.com:

“When our amphibian species start disappearing, there’s a problem,” said senior zookeeper Noah Shields. “This is not just another animal that may be going extinct here in Indiana. This is a very, very important species.”

Found in the Blue River in southern Indiana, and in rivers from Arkansas to New York, the Hellbender species is millions of years old. Recently, however, they are starting to disappear. Purdue associate professor Rod Williams has been leading the charge to preserve the species, which is now considered endangered in Indiana.

“They’re very sensitive to changes in the environment,” Williams said. “Hellbenders are also a very long lived amphibian. They can live 30 years in the wild. So when you have a really long-lived animal that starts to decline in the wild at a very rapid rate, it’s cause for concern that there’s something going on in the environment.”

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Not a very common sight, but these Brahminy blind snakes are the spotlight today in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Canes05!

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In briefs and during recent hearings, United States Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS) informed the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that it would take 75 days to determine whether to appeal the preliminary injunction (PI) granted to USARK. However, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure appear to only provide 60 days in which a United States agency may file a Notice of Appeal. [Rule 4(a)(1)(B)(ii)] Nonetheless, USFWS requested a stay of the PI for 75 days.

In his order, United States District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss stayed most of the proceedings in the Federal District Court for 60 days or until the termination of any appeal of the PI. Judge Moss did not technically stay the PI, but he effectively did so temporarily by making the PI effective 14 days after his order, on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.

If it files a notice of appeal, USFWS may again seek a stay of the PI for the pendency of such appeal. It also appears that USFWS could technically file immediately for a stay of the PI with the United States Court of Appeals. [Rule 8(a)]

However, it seems unlikely the Court of Appeals would be inclined to take such a motion for stay very seriously if USFWS did not simultaneously file a notice of appeal. Why? The District Court has already considered and denied any stay of the PI beyond the 14 days already allowed through June 2, 2015.

Moreover, if USFWS sees the reversal of the PI as an extraordinarily important issue, then it should be able to expedite the administrative procedure for filing a notice of appeal.

During the hearing, USFWS stated that it was time consuming to get administrative permission to appeal because an appeal had to be authorized by the Solicitor General, and also involved Department of Justice lawyers at the trial and appellate levels, as well as a number of folks at USFWS and The Department of Interior, at various levels.

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By Herp News

Nine months after Zambia lifted its general trophy hunting ban—including on elephants—the country has now lifted its ban on hunting African lions and leopards. The Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) lifted the ban after surveying its big cat populations and setting new regulations.

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In India you can find 16 species of keelback snakes, which makes it one of the largest family of snakes in the country. The keelback snakes are said to be relatives of the garter snakes, which are pretty common in America.

One of the keelback snakes found in my area is the buff-stripped keelback, Amphiesma stolatum, and it’s also my favorite from the family because of its color and its shy nature. These snakes are found near water bodies in marshy areas and paddy fields.

During mating season, six or seven males can be seen following a female. Due to pheromones (sex hormones) that are released in the air, even a recently killed female may attract males during this particular season. This has given rise to the misbelief that at least six more snakes turn up if a buff-stripped keelback is killed.

The maximum length of this snake is 80 cm, and it is oviparous by nature, laying eggs twice in a year.

The color variations in this snake is the main reason which makes it one of my favorites, as well as its shy nature, which is always beneficial during the rescues.

Photo: Riyaz Khoja
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Several months ago canoeists found several dead turtles in an Australian River, and this may be the harbinger of the extinction of Bellinger River snapping turtles.

From Scientific American:

Since then more than 400 dead turtles have shown up. Dozens more sick turtles were also recovered, each of which was lethargic, emaciated and covered in infected lesions in their eyes, skin and even internal organs.

None of the infected turtles survived.

The 60-kilometer river is the only home to the Bellinger River snapping turtle (Elsaya georgesi), a rare but little-studied species that has already been on the decline for years due to pollution and predation by invasive foxes. Scientists now fear that this mysterious, as-yet-unidentified disease has reached 90 percent of the turtle’s habitat and could cause the species’s imminent extinction.

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Several months ago canoeists found several dead turtles in an Australian River, and this may be the harbinger of the extinction of Bellinger River snapping turtles.

From Scientific American:

Since then more than 400 dead turtles have shown up. Dozens more sick turtles were also recovered, each of which was lethargic, emaciated and covered in infected lesions in their eyes, skin and even internal organs.

None of the infected turtles survived.

The 60-kilometer river is the only home to the Bellinger River snapping turtle (Elsaya georgesi), a rare but little-studied species that has already been on the decline for years due to pollution and predation by invasive foxes. Scientists now fear that this mysterious, as-yet-unidentified disease has reached 90 percent of the turtle’s habitat and could cause the species’s imminent extinction.

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What a better way to spotlight this gorgeous super conda hognose! This stunning snake takes center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nearhoofm!

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By Herp News

The Chinese government announced today that it will ‘eventually’ shut down its legal domestic ivory market. The move, which surprised conservationists, could provide a major boost in efforts to stop the mass killing of elephants for their ivory.

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By Herp News

A female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) — potentially the last female of her species — has been artificially inseminated. The procedure, which brought together top scientists from China, Australia and the United States, provides a ray of hope in a continuing effort to save the world’s most endangered turtle.

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In all the time I’ve been writing for kingsnake.com, most of my posts have been about Indian snakes. It’s like I’ve forgotten there are other reptiles and amphibians that also exist in India. So here are some thoughts on the most common monitor lizard of India.

The Indian or Bengal monitor, Varanus bengalensis, is a monitor lizard found widely distributed over the Indian subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial and grows to about 175 cm from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. The juveniles are more colorful with dotted bands, but as they grow the color of the body is grey or light brown.

It is been said that a monitor lizard has a very powerful grip with claws and there is a story sys that a legendary warrior and his group of soldiers climbed a fort with the support of a monitor lizard and rope.

In India, monitors are hunted for their meat, especially in rural areas. It is believed by these villagers that monitor lizard meat helps to prevent joint pain. For me, it is always a sad thing seeing these reptiles getting killed, and I am doing my best to protect them by making people aware of these magnificient creatures, and I’m sure a change is coming!

Photo: Riyaz Khoja
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