ABSTRACTS FROM THE 24th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
INTERNATIONAL HERPETOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM, INC.DAVID T ROBERTS Graphics Department, Dallas Zoo, 650 South R.L. Thornton Frwy, Dallas, TX 75203-3013 USA (2I4) 670-6844 (tel), (214) 670-6717 (fax) David, a professional photographer and writer, will discuss various techniques to capture sharp detailed images of various subjects including reptiles, amphibians, insects and arachnids on film. The workshop will cover basic techniques for color macro and wide angle natural history photography. Composition, lighting, and equipment basics for 35mm SLR cameras will be discussed. Specialty tools used in the field and other related equipment will be on display. A short introductory slide show will be used to illustrate exposure, depth of field, lighting (natural and flash) and choice of subject. The workshop is open to photographers of all levels. Bring your camera! |
JAMES PERRAN ROSS, Executive Officer, Crocodile Specialist Group SSC/IUCN Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, Box 117800, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611 USA (352) 846-2566 (tel), (352) 392-9367 (fax) The majority of the family crocdylidae occur in the old world and their conservation status there provides some stark contrasts and illustrations both of the difficulties and of some successes in conserving them. In Africa the widespread Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, is still widespread and locally abundant in many countries of southern and eastern Africa but it is depleted and fragmented throughout west Africa. In Southern Africa, conservation and management models developed in South Africa and Zimbabwe have been widely applied. Crocodile ranching, protection in National parks and reasonably effective regulation of trade in crocodile products have resulted in stable, and in some places growing populations. The current issues affecting crocodile conservation in that region are the effects of world economic markets on sustainable use programs and the increasing conflicts of expanding crocodile populations with the dense human population. Conservation issues lie mainly in the socio-economic sphere and biology and protection have relatively little application. Australia, and to a more limited extent, Papua New Guinea, provide similar examples of the application of regulated harvest systems to conservation goals and demonstrated recovery and present stability of crocodile populations. At the other extreme, in China, the Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis, is on the verge of extinction in the wild despite a program over two decades of complete protection, reserves, captive breeding and an intense effort in US toes. Recent analysis of the problem reveals that very intense land use and a culturally unique perspective on conservation combine to make the plight of wild Chinese alligators extreme. A major global initiative is presently underway to prevent this extinction but success is far from assured. Almost equally depressing are the situations of the Philippine crocodile, Crocodylus mindorensis, and Siamese crocodile, Crocodylus siamensis. Both are increasingly fragmented and depleted by human land use activity. In India, a three decade program of protection and restocking of muggers, Crocodylus palustris, and gharials, Gavialis gangeticus, is foundering due to lack of adequate provision of habitat protection and lack of funding for these activities. The gharial is also currently threatened by plans for hydroelectric schemes in its few remaining habitats in Nepal. I will attempt to summarize these examples and draw some conclusions of general application. Ironically, in those countries where crocodiles are subject to regulated exploitation, they prosper and in those countries where they are completely protected, they face extinction. Understanding and explaining this anomaly is the challenge for crocodile conservation. Land use practices, expanding human populations and booming economies are clearly the major threat to crocodiles in the Old World. Exploitation for commercial use has changed from being a threat to being, in a few important cases, a major incentive for conservation. The solutions to crocodile conservation, and probably to conservation in general, lie in adapting social, economic and cultural perspectives into an integrated whole for habitat and ecosystem management. Such an approach may have broad applicability to other reptilian conservation issues, particularly the current crisis in the massive trade of freshwater turtles in the food trade. |
ANDREW T. SNIDER, Curator of Herpetology Department of Herpetology, Detroit Zoological Institute, T10. Box 39, Royal Oak, MI 48068 USA 248-398-0903 ext 3159 (tel), 248-691-4194 (Fax), asnider@detroitzoo.org The National Amphibian Conservation Center (NACC) is a $6 million, 12,000-square foot, state of the art facility designed for and dedicated to amphibians. The focus of the NACC is conservation, research and education of the public; it is scheduled to open to the public in late spring of 2000. Approximately 1000 specimens of 60-100 species of amphibians will be housed here, including members of all three major groups: caecilians, salamanders, and frogs. In this paper, I will discuss the thought processes that went into the initial design and creation of the facility and its surrounding two acre wetlands. Design and implementation of graphics and interpretive will be discussed, as will exhibit design and construction. Acquisition, quarantine, and housing/acclimation of the amphibian specimens pre-opening will be discussed, as will the reasoning behind "master planning" of certain species. Conservation programs, including SSP will be addressed, as will projects currently in the works such as importation of Kihansi spray toads, Nectophrynoides asperginis, at the request of the Tanzanian government, and "Project Golden Frog", Atelopus zeteki, in Panama. Ties to other "amphibian-friendly" organizations such as the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be emphasized. Due to the world-wide decline in amphibian species, it is hoped that this facility will provide a template for other toes and aquariums to follow. Amphibians, as never before, need to have more emphasis and money dedicated to them in the zoo/aquarium community and it is hoped that this facility will help to bolster support for this cause. |
KARL H. SWITAK Natural History Photography, (707) 538-0554 (fax) The Kalahari Desert of southern Africa harbors a great diversity of herpetological presence. It is also a region of great contrast, exemplified by summer temperatures the likes of hell, followed by winter months when the mercury often drops below freezing. Mix into this a combination of dust and sand storms, torrential downpours (summer months) plus the occasional hail storm and I give you the Kalahari. Unfortunately this sandy domain is much too great a piece of real estate to be covered in a time-span of short duration. For this reason I shall restrict my presentation to the west and slightly southwestern area, specifically known as the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and Botswana's counterpart the Gemsbok National Park. Recently the two merged to form the massive Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Amphibians, in part are represented here by rain frogs, Breviceps, Cacos, Cacosternum, bull frogs, Pyxicephalus, and sand frogs, Tomopterna. Turtles that frequent the region are helmeted terrapin, Pelomedusa subrufa, leopard tortoise, Geochelone pardalis, and Kalahari tent tortoise, Psammobates oculifer. Lizards in the Kalahari are not only conspicuous by their great numbers, but also by the diversity of species. Among these are barking geckos, Ptenopus, giant sand geckos, Chondrodactylus, black tree skinks. Mabuya, colorful and acrobatic ground agama, Agama aculeata, plus an assortment of speed demons better known as Lacertids, just to mention a few. Of all the serpents that frequent the Kalahari, I believe the most spectacular to be the extremely venomous Cape cobra, Naja nivea; they are diurnal, they are nocturnal . They climb acacia trees and they slither across a sandy substrate with great agility. Their color is blinding. Prime snake activity takes place in late winter (depending on weather), then early to mid spring. During these periods one can find mole snakes, Pseudaspis cama, dwarf beaked snakes, Dipsina multimaculata, sand snakes, Psammophis, the occasional puff adder, Bitis arietans, and, with some luck, a reddish-colored horned adder, Bitis caudalis. To fully appreciate the Kalahari's herpetofauna one must look at the beast itself, the habitat it lives in, plus the prey and predators that surround it. This presentation, in part, will cover all these aspects. |
KAMURAN TEPEDELEN Bushmaster Reptiles Inc. of Boulder, Colorado, PO Box 19096, Boulder, CO 80308 USA (303) 530-2252 (tel), (303) 530-2233 (fax), www.kingsnake.com/bushmaster Kamuran Tepedelen is the owner and operator of Bushmaster Reptiles Inc. of Boulder, Colorado. His personal interest include Chinese ratsnakes, Elaphe; he has traveled to China on five separate occasions to perform field studies and document the habitat of this genus. He has collaborated with Klaus-Dieter Schulz of Wurselen Germany, the author of "A Monograph of the Colubrid Snakes of the Genus Elaphe". Together they have obtained and bred some of the more rare and difficult to keep Chinese Elaphe. This talk will identify both rare and common Chinese Elaphe with a focus on the species that are actively collected for consumption. The current impact of the food market will be discussed, as well as the short and long term consequences of this trade. A focus on the importance of captive breeding in order to preserve species, which may become threatened for future generations, will include a list of species that deserve this attention. This talk will also feature photographic slides which exhibit various species, their habitat and the food market which threatens them. |
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