Conservation groups are suing the federal government over its failure to finalize a protection zone for endangered leatherback sea turtles off the Pacific coast of the United States.

The groups filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service missed a deadline to designate 70,600 square miles off the Pacific Coast as a turtle safety zone.

Leatherbacks can grow up to 1,200 pounds and an immense range, swimming from Indonesia to the U.S. West Coast to lay eggs.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups' complaint says the government agreed in January 2010 to create the safety zone rules within a year.

"Around this time last year, we were practicing long jump and triple jump in these pits and some students found some turtles and turtle eggs," says Fiona Lockhart, who along with classmate Kolby Zinger-Harris, are documenting the entire project.

"We rescued some of the turtles and put them in an aquarium, nurtured them and took care of them until they were big enough and we released them back into Fascieux Creek," says Lockhart.

The little reptiles are Western Painted Turtles and they're struggling for survival.

"I've had kids in tears because of this and this should be all protected," says KLO teacher Michelle Hamilton. "The turtles are also considered an at risk species. They're blue listed, a special concern with the species at risk act, so it has to be protected."

"This area (the schoolyard) was originally a wetland before it was developed," says Zinger-Harris. "Since the turtles have come back we're trying to recreate the wetland and build it again so that they have somewhere to come to every year."

The long jump pit was moved to the opposite end of the schoolyard since the discovery, and on Friday a large number of KLO grade seven students began the work of rebuilding the area and protecting the habitat.

It's a project that will become a learning tool at the school for years to come. The lessons learned won't simply include learning about the environment and habitats, but also how students can bring about effective change and learn to deal with real world politics.

It would seem that Daemonosaurus represents a lineage that did not extend into the later Mesozoic," said researcher Hans-Dieter Sues, a vertebrate paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History.

The newfound dinosaur's fearsome name comes from the Greek "daimon" for "evil spirit," "sauros" for "reptile," and "chauliodus" for "outstanding teeth." The name alludes to legends of evil spirits at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, where the remains of this species were discovered, and to the large, serrated front teeth found in its upper jaw.

"The huge front teeth of Daemonosaurus would have been useful for seizing and killing prey," Sues told LiveScience. Moreover, its short, deep snout "suggests powerful biting."

Based off the size of this skull and the bodily proportions of other early dinosaurs, "I would estimate an overall length of 5 feet, as most of these animals have really long tails, and Daemonosaurus would have stood as tall as a large dog," Sues said

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens was quoted by MSNBC as saying he probably "crawled up on a chain link fence" and used his weight to push it down in order to make his escape. Pretty smart move by that alligator.

Finding the lovesick alligator won't be easy. The nature center is near the Arkansas river and on the edge of swamps and bayous. There are plenty of his cousins in those waters, too.

Worse, they never put a microchip into him, so any technological means of tracking him can't be used. Stephens said they wanted to keep the center "as natural as possible," thus the decision to not put any implants into him.

Wildlife officials said they found the alligator, which was about five feet long, dead behind the apartment. Authorities said they also found parts from other alligators and venom that had been milked from a snake.

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"We just think its disregard for that animal. When the animal swallows a hook like that it's a death warrant," said Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Alligator Program Specialist Ricky Flynt.

Along with the alligator and the alligator parts, wildlife officials also found venom milked from a Copperhead snake.

"I'm a blow dart gun enthusiast. I like blow dart guns. Copperhead venom, it could help in taking down something a little bigger. (Alligator) Hide? I have no idea what I was going to do with that, just know I wanted it," Randle said.