Reptile & Amphibian News Blog
Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
Friday, August 29 2014
Check out this video "Jumping Frogs," submitted by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
Thursday, August 28 2014
 How do you save endangered tortoises? Sterilization.
From the Elko Daily Free Press:
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials say they have to curb the backyard breeding of desert tortoises because the growing population of unwanted pet tortoises diverts resources from efforts to preserve the species in the wild.
Mike Senn, assistant field supervisor for the Fish &Wildlife Service in Nevada, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it can be “a really difficult issue” to explain to people. He said simply breeding more tortoises won’t save the species if not enough is done to improve and protect natural habitat and address threats in the wild.
Captive tortoises threaten native populations because they can carry diseases with them when they escape or are released illegally in the desert.
Read more...
Wednesday, August 27 2014
 Soldiers in Nicaragua were deployed to prevent poachers from stealing sea turtle eggs.
From France24:
The first 1,400 Olive Ridley turtles arrived to nest Thursday at the Chacocente Wildlife Refuge on the Central American country's southern coast, regional military commander Jose Larios told the Nuevo Diario newspaper.
They were followed by hundreds more on Friday and Saturday, said Larios, whose troops are guarding a 1,500-meter (one-mile) stretch of beach where the turtles lay their eggs.
Read more...
Tuesday, August 26 2014
 Conservationists in Scotland search dunes and marshes by flashlight, looking for critically endangered natterjack toads.
From BBC News:
The scientists search the area after dark, using torchlight to find the natterjacks.
The toads are then measured and photographed.
James Silvey of RSPB Scotland said: "The beautiful thing about natterjacks is they each come with their own individual fingerprint, and that's in the form of the big warts and the yellow stripe on their backs.
"Each of the toads we photograph today could potentially live for 10 or 15 years and if we photograph it again we'll know that individual was found here at Mersehead in 2014.
Read more...
Monday, August 25 2014
 A critically endangered tree frog has just been discovered in Madagascar.
From Newsweek:
Boophis ankarafensis, as the scientists have dubbed the amphibian, is bright green with red speckles red on its head and back. It was found on the Sahamalaza Peninsula in the Ankarafa forest, from whence its name comes.
The frog’s call—a series of high-pitched trills, followed by three clicks—differs slightly from related frog species, which stop at a pair of clicks. Its body size and coloration are also slightly different; genetic analysis proved that it is indeed a separate species, according to a study describing the animal published today in the journal ZooKeys.
Although the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park, where the frog is found, remains protected in name, deforestation is rampant in the surrounding forests, the researchers wrote.
Read more...
Friday, August 22 2014
Check out this video "Bubblegum the Talking Snake," submitted by kingsnake.com user snakewz.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
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