Category Archives: Reptiles

Dorset ‘super reserve’ recreates ancient savannah habitat to boost biodiversity

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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.

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Chonk the snapping turtle delights locals with Chicago River appearance

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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.

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‘Like a little dragon’: new gecko species discovered on rugged Queensland island

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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.

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Alligator found in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park

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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.

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Dead or alive: can bounty plan solve Miami Beach’s invasive iguana problem?

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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.

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Queensland man uses pocket knife to fight off crocodile dragging him into river

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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.

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Boom time for Cape Verde’s sea turtles as conservation pays off

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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.

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Galápagos tortoise found alive revealed as species thought extinct 100 years ago – video

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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

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Giant tortoise found in Galápagos a species considered extinct a century ago

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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.

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Iguanas with chips: Florida seeks solution to invasive reptile problem

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  • ‘Tag day’ initiative opposed by some owners of exotic pets
  • State official ‘proud that Florida is looked at as a leader’

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

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Giant lizard climbs shelves of Thai supermarket in search of food – video

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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

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Komodo dragons: ‘the biggest, worst lizard of the modern day’ | Helen Sullivan

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From the Komodo’s mouth hang various strands of toxic drool, lightly coated in dust

The goanna wanted an egg. It had climbed a few metres up the trunk of a large cabbage palm and was looking at me: egg. Its nose pointed down, its eyes looked up, like a begging dog, and – distinctly unlike a dog of any kind – it flicked its forked tongue against the bark: egg. Although I was in possession of a carton, I declined the request. I have seen a goanna (Australian for monitor lizard) eat an egg and they have no idea how to do this in a normal way. They crunch the snack whole, a dull look on their faces, as most of the yolk dribbles down the sides of their mouths.

Of course, the best monitor lizard – and champion of disturbing feeding habits – is the Komodo dragon: a big beast that lives on small islands such as Indonesia’s Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang (50,000 years ago, Komodos lived in Australia, too). As the cult internet comic strip Achewood puts it, “Everyone knows that a Komodo Dragon is the biggest, worst lizard of the modern day.”

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Australian officials hunt crocodile after human remains found near missing fisherman’s boat

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Department of Environment and Science says damage to boat indicates crocodile’s involvement ‘highly likely’

Human remains have been found during a search for a missing fisherman on a tropical Queensland island, as the hunt for a killer crocodile continues.

Related: King croc of Port Douglas dies after crab pot encounter

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Seed-sized chameleon found in Madagascar may be world’s tiniest reptile

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Male nano-chameleon, named Brookesia nana, has body only 13.5mm long

Scientists say they have discovered a sunflower-seed-sized subspecies of chameleon that may well be the smallest reptile on Earth.

Two of the miniature lizards, one male and one female, were discovered by a German-Madagascan expedition team in northern Madagascar.

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‘Who doesn’t love a turtle?’ The teenage boys on a mission – to rewild Britain with reptiles

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At 17, they were meant to be taking their A-levels this year. But Harvey Tweats and Tom Whitehurst have a big ambition: to replace the toads, frogs and lizards we have lost

The new enterprise taking shape on a strip of derelict land beside a garden centre in Leek, Staffordshire, would be extraordinary at any time. But the large pond, greenhouses, cabins and homemade enclosures that will comprise this particular startup are positively miraculous given that it is driven by two 17-year-olds, both studying for their A-levels in the middle of a pandemic.

Childhood friends Harvey Tweats and Tom Whitehurst are on a mission – to rewild Britain by restoring reptile and amphibian species that are either virtually extinct or have been extinct for centuries in this country. Their company, Celtic Reptile & Amphibian, will soon open what the pair believe will be the country’s largest outdoor breeding facility for reptiles and amphibians. They hope it will be the first step in restoring lost species so that British ponds, lakes and wetlands once more resound to the croak of pool frogs and agile frogs as well as other once-common lizards and frogs. In the long term, Tweats and Whitehurst hope that the European pond turtle (which they source from Moldova) and the Aesculapian snake, already unofficially released in a couple of UK sites, may be embraced as new native species after being absent from the country for thousands of years.

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Hopes for most endangered turtle after discovery of female in Vietnam lake

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Find is chance for species’ survival say scientists as DNA results confirm turtle found in Hanoi district is a Swinhoe’s softshell

The last known male giant Swinhoe’s softshell turtle is no longer alone on the planet after the discovery of a female of his species in Vietnam.

The female 86kg (13 stone) turtle was found in Dong Mo lake, in Hanoi’s Son Tay district, and captured for genetic testing in October.

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Florida braced for unusually cold Christmas – and falling iguanas

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Reptiles often become immobile in chilly weather and can plummet from trees though they are still alive

With unexpectedly cold weather forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other – and it may involve falling iguanas.

Related: 'I took a trip to the North Pole': Anthony Fauci tells children he vaccinated Santa

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Tiny frog species among series of finds in Andean ‘sky islands’

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‘Ecological Swat team’ discovers 20 unknown species in Bolivia including viper and butterfly

An “ecological Swat team” has discovered 20 previously unknown species in the misty cloud forests and cascading waterfalls that flank Bolivia’s Zongo valley.

Among the animals found were a minuscule 10mm-long frog, a pit viper, two metalmark butterflies and an adder’s-mouth orchid. The pristine forests are just 30 miles (48km) from the capital, La Paz, but the expedition also rediscovered the devil-eyed frog, seen just once before, and a satyr butterfly not seen for nearly a century. Alongside these were threatened species including the spectacled bear and the channel-billed toucan.

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Decoy turtle eggs put in nests to track illegal trade in Costa Rica

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Quarter of fakes were stolen with some eggs tracked from thief to trafficker to consumer

Decoy eggs made by a 3D-printer and fitted with satellite tags have been placed in sea turtle nests on beaches in Costa Rica to track the illegal trade of their eggs.

A quarter of the fake eggs put among 101 turtle nests on four beaches in Costa Rica were stolen, with some eggs successfully tracked as they moved from thief to trafficker to consumer.

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