Snake appears in top of fifth inning of Dodger v New York Mets game before being wrapped in towel and removed
A snake slithered through the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dugout during game two of the National League Championship Series on Monday.
The reptile appeared in the top of the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the New York Mets. It wasn’t big enough to put a scare into anyone.
Continue reading...Conservationists and botanists express concern over plans for Qatari-funded upscale resort on Assomption Island
The habitat of the largest giant tortoise population in the world is threatened by a Qatari-funded hotel development that aims to bring luxury yachts, private jets and well-heeled tourists to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, conservationists have warned.
Plans for an upscale resort on Assomption, which is part of the Aldabra island group, are currently under discussion by the Seychelles authorities, and construction is already finished on an airport expansion that would allow bigger aircraft to land on the 11.6-sq-km (4.5-sq-mile) coral island.
Continue reading...Body of 16-year-old boy discovered with injuries ‘consistent with a crocodile attack’ as wildlife officers search for animal
A teenager has died after a suspected crocodile attack off an island in the Torres Strait, police have confirmed.
Thursday Island water police launched a search and rescue operation near Saibai Island after receiving reports at about 4am on Thursday that a 16-year-old boy was missing.
Continue reading...Re-examination finds what were taken to be veins of leaves are actually bone growth patterns
Two small, oval fossils thought to be prehistoric plants are actually the remains of baby marine turtles, researchers have revealed.
The fossils, found in rocks dating to between 132 and 113 million years ago, were discovered in Colombia in the middle of the 20th century by Padre Gustavo Huerta, a priest with a penchant for fossil plants.
Continue reading...Officials remind residents of rules and say non-native Argentine black and white tegus can pose threat to wildlife and people
An oblivious Georgia homeowner was unaware a huge 3ft tegu lizard had taken up residence under her porch until eagle-eyed children in the neighborhood spotted it and told her, state wildlife officials said.
The reptile was a non-native Argentine black and white tegu, the largest of its species that can grow up to 5ft and pose a threat to wildlife and people, the officials reported.
Continue reading...Shnappy, who weighs 50lbs and lives in Clove Lakes Park, has gone missing – and locals suspect poachers stole it for soup
It is the case of a missing turtle.
And this is no ordinary beast. The huge snapping turtle, known to all as Shnappy, weighs an enormous 50lbs and is a fixture in the New York borough of Staten Island, where he has long resided in Clove Lakes Park.
Continue reading...Match between the Giants and Richmond pushed back by about 30 minutes due to red-bellied black snake
An AFLW match between Greater Western Sydney and Richmond in Blacktown was delayed after a snake was spotted sunning itself in the grass.
The red-bellied black snake appeared to be taking advantage of the hot weather that parts of Australia’s south-east have been experiencing.
Continue reading...Victorian grassland earless dragon was once common west of Melbourne but numbers declined due to habitat loss and predators such as feral cats
A tiny earless dragon feared to be extinct in the wild has been sighted for the first time in more than 50 years – at a location that is being kept secret to help preservation efforts.
The Victorian grassland earless dragon, Tympanocryptis pinguicolla, has now been rediscovered in the state, according to a joint statement issued by the Victorian and federal Labor governments on Sunday.
Continue reading...Devon cattle stand in for extinct aurochs in project aimed at protecting precious species such as sand lizards
The mighty aurochs have gone, as have the tarpan horses and the wild boars, but modern-day substitutes have been drafted in to recreate a large open “savannah” on heathland in Dorset.
Instead of aurochs, considered the wild ancestor of domestic cattle, 200 red Devon cattle are to be found roaming the Purbeck Heaths, while Exmoor ponies are stand-ins for the tarpan horses and curly coated Mangalitsa pigs are doing the sort of rooting around that boars used to excel at here.
Continue reading...Rare sight of giant reptile basking by waterside offers hope that notoriously polluted waterway is getting cleaner
A large snapping turtle dubbed “Chonk” has become a viral favorite of Chicago residents after the enormous reptile has been spotted repeatedly lounging by the once-toxic Chicago River.
“Look at the size of that thing!” Joey Santore said as he filmed “Chonkosaurus”, or “Chonk”, as the giant creature lay atop of what appears to be an old rusty chain and tree snags.
Continue reading...Man, aged in his 40s, says he fought off the reptile by sticking his fingers in its eyes
A man who was attacked by a crocodile in far north Queensland says he fought off the reptile by sticking his fingers in its eyes.
The attack happened at Archer Point near Cooktown just before 1pm on Saturday.
Continue reading...The carnivorous Phyllurus fimbriatus is only found in the wettest, rockiest pockets of Scawfell Island
A new species of gecko that “looks like a little dragon”, with a beaky face and spiny leaf-shaped tail, has been discovered on an uninhabited Queensland island.
The new lizard was found on Scawfell Island, a rugged island about 50km offshore from the north Queensland city of Mackay.
Continue reading...Reptile rescued from lake on Sunday is most likely an unwanted pet and has been taken to Bronx Zoo for rehabilitation
In an unusual scene for this part of the country, a 4ft-long alligator was rescued from the famed Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn on Sunday.
The itinerant crocodilian – most likely an unwanted pet – was in poor condition and described as sluggish by park officials, the local news station PIX11 reported. Authorities said the lethargic alligator might have been shocked by the cold.
Continue reading...City commissioner proposes paying per reptile to ramp up efforts to curb numbers of non-native species
A city commissioner in Miami Beach is proposing a novel solution to tackle an invasion of non-native iguanas overwhelming the popular tourist city: paying a bounty for the head of each reptile brought in dead or alive.
Commissioners have agreed to look into the iguana problem and the suggestion by council member Kristen Rosen Gonzalez to offer payments to hunters, which she says would offer an incentive for locals to take an active role.
Continue reading...Cape York man, 60, was fishing on his property when the reptile clamped its jaws around his boots
A Queensland man has escaped the jaws of a crocodile by stabbing it in the head with a pocket knife as it dragged him into a river on Cape York.
Parks and Wildlife officers said the 60-year-old had been fishing on his property on the banks of a remote part of the McIvor River, near Hope Vale, last Wednesday.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...The number of nesting sites on the archipelago has risen dramatically, but global heating sees male population plummet
It’s nearly midnight as Delvis Semedo strolls along an empty beach on the Cape Verdean island of Maio. Overhead, the dense Milky Way pierces the darkness. A sea turtle emerges from the crashing waves and lumbers up the shore. Then another. And another.
Semedo is one of about 100 local people who patrol Maio’s beaches each night during nesting season to collect data on the turtles and protect them from poachers. This year has been busier than usual. Sea turtle nests on the islands of Sal, Maio and Boa Vista – the primary nesting grounds for loggerheads in Cape Verde – have soared in the last five years. Cape Verde’s environment ministry puts nest numbers in 2020 across all 10 islands at almost 200,000, up from 10,725 in 2015.
Continue reading...A giant tortoise found in the Galápagos Islands has been confirmed as a species thought to be extinct a century ago. The tortoise was found in 2019 on Fernandina Island and identified as the Chelonoidis phantasticus species by scientists from Yale University. The Galápagos national park is preparing an expedition to search for more of the giant tortoises in an attempt to save the species
Continue reading...Ecuador confirms turtle found two years ago on Fernandina Island is a Chelonoidis phantasticus species
Ecuador has confirmed that a giant tortoise found in 2019 in the Galápagos Islands is a species considered extinct a century ago.
The Galápagos National Park is preparing an expedition to search for more of the giant tortoises in an attempt to save the species.
Continue reading...From Key West’s high-summer Hemingway Days, in which bearded hopefuls vie for the title of best Papa lookalike, to the annual hunt for the elusive (and imaginary) skunk ape, Florida is renowned for its calendar of curiosities.
Related: Toilet-invading iguanas among invasive species now banned in Florida
Continue reading...A giant monitor lizard climbs up a fully-stacked wall unit at a supermarket on the outskirts of Bangkok, unperturbed by the falling cartons and packages it dislodges as it searches for footholds, then appears to rest on the top shelf, watched by staff and customers. According to reports the 6ft-long reptile emerged from a nearby canal and ran into the 7-Eleven store. Police arrived with reptile handlers to snare the creature, which is believed to have struggled to find food outside, following months of dry weather, which has led to canals and lakes drying up
Continue reading...