Loggerhead nesting statewide was almost the highest since monitoring began in 1989, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Friday. In total, surveyors counted 58,172 loggerhead nests on the state's “index” beaches, second only to the peak seen in 1998.

Just five years ago, nesting on those same beaches hit a low of 28,074 and prompted widespread concerns about the status of the turtle.

“We're pleased to see this increase, but we recognize that loggerheads, and other sea turtle species, still face many challenges,” Blair Witherington, a commission research scientist, said Friday.

The majority of loggerhead nesting in the United States — 90% — occurs in Florida, especially along the east coast.

"Habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats facing desert tortoises in the wild," said Jennifer Germano Ph.D., post-doctoral researcher at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. "Currently we are using translocations as an experimental tool to help minimize some of the impacts to tortoise populations. Tracking this group of young tortoises will allow us to better understand how these animals respond to translocation, which will help us improve recovery efforts for this species in the future."

A transmitter has been placed on each of the tortoises to allow researchers to track the movements and health of the juvenile reptiles (ranging in age from 3 to 8 years). Translocations have recently been recommended for tortoises impacted by regional habitat disturbances due to energy project development and as a tool to augment depleted populations. Through this effort, researchers hope to better understand what factors improve long-term survival for individuals and how they can improve the tools they use for the conservation management of this species.

Longlining along California’s coast has been banned due its high bycatch of non-target animals, including federally protected marine mammals and endangered species.

The California drift gillnet fishery targets swordfish and thresher shark using nets that stretch a mile in length. But obviously this fishing method collects life indiscriminately from the ocean, resulting in the death or injury (a death sentence in the wild) of more than 130 protected whales, dolphins, seal and sea lions and thousands of other sharks and marine mammals, according to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.

Anything taken aboard other than a swordfish or shark is dumped back into the ocean – dead, alive or dying.

“Curtains of death, in the form of the California driftnet fishery, should be abolished in California waters and need to be phased out as soon as possible,” biologist and executive director of SeaTurtles.org, Todd Steiner said. “Sea turtles, sharks and whales are all being hammered by this fishery that targets high-mercury seafood species that are largely unfit to eat.”

Sadly, George’s story is not unique. The armored shells of turtles and tortoises represent one of the most uniquely adapted vertebrate body plans and have served to protect these animals since prehistoric times. But evolution’s best defense mechanisms provide little protection against humankind’s willful determination to slaughter these incredible creatures. In our modern globally-integrated economy, turtle hunting will never be a sustainable industry. Turtles neither mature fast enough nor produce enough offspring to withstand even moderate levels of continual harvesting.

For decades, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists like the late John Behler and Brian Horne have crisscrossed the globe to study rare turtles and tortoises and prevent their demise. Dr. Horne, like other experts in the field, believes that the international trade of wild-caught turtles is the main factor in driving more than half of the 330 species of turtles close to extinction. On a percentage basis, turtles as a group are now more at risk of extinction than birds, mammals, or amphibians.

While most girls her age might shy away from the sticky amphibians, she embraces them, sometimes quite literally.

"Frogs are really cool," she said. "They are very cute and they have always kind of interested me."

She's gone to frog-listening classes and can identify them by their calls. She knows that frogs help tell the health of the environment and that they are an important part of the food web. They also help to keep the insect population down.

George Heinrich, a St. Petersburg wildlife biologist who has taught the home-schooled Avalon for the last four years, loves what he sees in her.

"She's a very bright child," he said. "She's like a sponge. She takes what you teach her and runs with it."

The two have paddled their way down the Hillsborough River and taken nature hikes at Brooker Creek Preserve and Boyd Hill Nature Park. They've even gone to Florida's east coast to watch sea turtles hatch.

According to the DoE’s technical review committee, which is persistently ignored by the CPA, the accumulative applications by the developer equate to the potential development of around 535 acres of land and that a Planned Area Development (PAD) application should have been submitted to planning along with a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

In a memo at the beginning of October relating to the latest application to the CPA by the developer, which is for a golf course backing onto the Botanic Park and still under consideration, the DoE said it was concerned about the cumulative impact of the development and a lack of consideration within the context of the other Eagle Asset development parcels.

The DoE pointed to the encirclement of the Botanic Park through the series of development applications, which have been strongly resisted by the department due to the significant adverse impact on the blue iguanas. Nevertheless, all of the applications, modifications and changes considered by the CPA to date have been granted, posing a significant threat to the future of the important conservation and tourist facility.

“The current application parcel is land occupied by individuals from the free-roaming population of blue iguanas which originates from the Park,” the DoE warned in its comments to the CPA on the latest application for a golf course. “Removal of this habitat would directly impact this population. The potential introduction of roadways and associated cars would make this area significantly less inhabitable for the iguanas.”

The venom of the black mamba snake, one of the world's deadliest poisons administered by one of the world's deadliest reptiles, can kill you within half an hour. Untreated bites have a mortality rate of 100%.

Hidden in the grim cocktail the snake carries, though, are a couple of proteins with a remarkably different effect. Research published this week in Nature has revealed two molecules in mamba venom that can eliminate pain with as much potency as morphine, suggesting an unusual new source for painkillers.

The proposed ordinance amendment defines an “exotic animal” as “any animal that is not normally domesticated in the United States, including any such animal’s hybrid with domestic species, or an animal that is wild by nature, regardless of whether it was bred in the wild or captivity”. The Board plans to ban any person in Dane County from possessing or selling these animals.
[...]

Anyone found in violation of this ordinance is subject to fines ranging from $100 to $500.

Diamondback terrapins, which grow up to 7 inches long, thrive in the marshes off the Georgia island. But during nesting season, female terrapins seek to lay their eggs on high and dry ground - often the causeway that motorists travel between the island and Brunswick on the mainland.

The Jekyll Island Foundation is asking for donors for help raising $50,000 to fund a conservation research and education project focused on the terrapins. The study is a joint effort between the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and the University of Georgia.

A group that cares for and releases endangered sea turtle hatchlings into the Gulf of Mexico says it had a record 6,000 babies born this year.

Supporters say the total indicates the Kemp's ridley species is on the road to recovery.

Sea Turtle Inc. executive director Jeff George told the Valley Morning Star (http://bit.ly/QhOSpC) that the turtles hatched from 69 nests recovered by the organization.

The legislation will declare October 15 every year as Leatherback Conservation Day in California, urge conservation of this ancient marine species and encourage schools to teach about the native sea turtle. The bill is intended to recognize the importance of California state waters to the survival and recovery of the Pacific leatherback. Naming this species as the state marine reptile will add it to other state icons including the California gray whale, golden trout, poppy, and the redwood.

“Designating the Pacific leatherback sea turtle as our state marine reptile is part of a coordinated worldwide conservation effort to save a species whose population has declined more than 95 percent,” said Assemblymember Fong, who authored the bill. “Naming the leatherback sea turtle as our official state marine reptile will demonstrate California’s commitment to protecting leatherback sea turtles, our ocean’s ecosystem, and recognize the education and awareness this official designation bestows for this revered creature whose migratory pattern includes California’s coast.”

Since Isaac made landfall more than a week ago, the water the storm has receded and tar balls and oil have been reported on shores in Alabama and Louisiana, where officials closed a 13-mile stretch of beach Tuesday.

BP said Wednesday some of that oil was from the spill, but said some of the crude may be from other sources, too.

"If there's something good about this storm it made it visible where we can clean it up," BP spokesman Ray Melick said.

BP still has hundreds of cleanup workers on the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers and leading to the nation's largest offshore spill.

Melick said the company was working with the Coast Guard, state officials and land managers to clean up the oil on the Fourchon beach in Louisiana. He said crews would be there Thursday.

Isaac made landfall near Fourchon on Aug. 28 as a Category 1 storm, pummeling the coast with waves, wind and rain. Seven people were killed in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Ed Overton, a chemist and oil spill expert at Louisiana State University, said the exposed oil was weathered and less toxic, though it could still harm animals — such as crabs, crawfish and bait fish.

Insiders at horse-racing tracks call it frog juice, and concerns about its use as a performance-enhancing drug in Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states have spread to Nebraska.

The Nebraska Racing Commission is investigating a case in which a urine sample drawn from a horse in the July 15 field at Horsemen’s Park in Omaha tested positive for a drug known scientifically as dermorphin.

The drug is extracted from a South American tree frog and acts as both a painkiller and a stimulant. And, as of Aug. 4, Adams horse trainer Kim Veerhusen has been suspended and ordered to pay a fine of $1,500 pending review of the incident by the commission.

According to the formal complaint, a horse named Cheatin’ Cowboy may have had dermorphin in its system when it finished second in the first race of the day in Omaha last month.

Cheatin' Cowboy since has been disqualified as a source of purse money, and Veerhusen has been suspended through Sept. 19 while drug allegations are investigated. Along with that, entry of any horses he owns or trains will be denied for the rest of the race season as it continues in Columbus.

Deputies on Sunday charged Robert Lee Chason, 22, of the 2600 block of Southwest Martin Avenue, Palm City, and James Hataway, 38, of the 800 block of Southwest 34th Terrace in Palm City, with armed trespassing, possession of American alligator. Joe Chason, 24, of the same address, and a teenage girl, who was not identified in the report, were both charged with trespassing. Hataway faces additional charges of tampering with evidence, illegal method of taking an alligator and other charges.

About 5:11 p.m. Sunday, deputies stopped a pickup on Southwest Citrus Boulevard after receiving reports that occupants in a pickup were trespassing on private property. Before stopping the truck, deputies saw a recently cut alligator in the middle of the road.

While questioning the men, Robert Chason admitted to shooting an alligator and said Hataway threw the tail out of the window. Deputies noticed blood was on Robert Chason's legs, the truck's bed and passenger side, the report states.

Sources said that most of the CHCs do not have anti-venom vaccine. As a result, doctors have to refer patients to district hospital. "If the course is not started timely, the patient dies a painful death within three hours of the bite," added.

In the last 24 hours, around four cases of snake-bite were reported from Akbarpur, Derapur and Rura areas. Soni, wife of Kallu of Nariha village, was admitted to the district hospital on Tuesday. The incident occurred while she had gone to fetch something inside her room on Tuesday evening. The doctors stated her condition to be critical.

[...]

A doctor at the CHC said that there is shortage of anti-venom vaccines and that they have been facing hardships while treating patients. "If not treated timely, the snake bite can be fatal" he said. The market price of an anti-snake venom is around Rs 1,000, it is given free of cost at the hospital to urban as well as rural patients.

On an average, two to three patients of snake-bite visit Kanpur Dehat district hospital daily. Since July, the doctors at most of the CHC's have been referring patients to district hospital.

The ecologist will carry tools including a stopwatch and oxygen meter as she seeks frog habitats, collects water samples and records the abundance of northern leopard frogs across a 90,000-square-kilometre area south of Drumheller.

Randall recently embarked on six weeks of summer field research as part of a study launched in 2009 by the Calgary Zoo’s Centre for Conservation Research.

Through intensive fieldwork and mathematical modelling, the six-year project aims to gain a better understanding of northern leopard frog population dynamics.

The handsome and charismatic spotted amphibian, which can grow to the size of a human fist, is considered a threatened species in Alberta and an endangered species in B.C., said Randall.

[...]

“People have advocated that amphibians act a bit like the canary in the coal mine. Whatever is affecting them now, as those changes become more drastic and abundant, they will affect other things,” Russell said.

Kris Kendell, a senior biologist with the Alberta Conservation Association, is the co-ordinator of the Alberta Volunteer Amphibian Monitoring Program, which encourages “an army of citizen scientists” to submit their observations.

Nicholas Hillier, 23, was arrested Saturday afternoon on charges of burglary of a residence and grand theft, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Art Forgey said.

Hillier and victim Charlotte Felner previously had met when they traded a pair of snakes. Felner said Hillier showed an “unusual amount of interest” in her blue iguana, deputies said, and told her he sold iguanas to vendors because they are easy money.

At around 9 a.m. on Friday, Felner called the Sheriff’s Office to report that her reptiles, estimated to be worth a total of $1,100, had gone missing overnight.

“I woke up that morning, and one of my roommates said, ‘Didn’t you have more cages out on the porch?’” Felner told The Sun. “I ran outside and saw my cage wasn’t out there.

In the past 20 years, frogs and other amphibians have been dying in alarming numbers. More than 40 percent of amphibian species are threatened with extinction, according to the most recent IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The main causes are habitat destruction, climate change, and a sinister new fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. But despite this, or perhaps because of it, there’s been a surge in discoveries of new species in recent years.

“Once it became apparent that amphibians were declining, there was a great interest in amphibians,” said biologist David Wake of the University of California, Berkeley, who founded Amphibiaweb, a database to catalog new amphibian species. ”When we started it in 2000, we thought that the age of amphibian discovery was pretty well done,” said Wake. But now, about 2.5 new species are added every week.

Researchers at James Cook University in Cairns are to study the medicinal properties of funnel-web spider and tarantula venom, in particular its influence on breast cancer cells.

Queensland Science Minister Ros Bates said the research was on the back of international studies that suggested certain toxins in spider venom could block cancer-causing enzymes. This information first came to light with the publication of a paper in 2007 in the journal DNA and Cell Biology.

"They are looking at ways in which the venom may be able to block or kill breast cancer cells - so it could actually lead to a cure," Bates told reporters on Friday. "It's very early days, but it's fairly ground-breaking research."

The research is being jointly funded by the Queensland state government, the National Health and Medical Research Council and funding from a Novel Concept Award from the Breast Cancer Foundation. It is expected to cost $200,000 AUD ($209,000 USD) over two years.

Chanelle Wright of Oceanside, Calif., discovered the turtle taped to the green and blue balloons Sunday, and immediately called the Humane Society.

“We look up and there are green and blue balloons up there,” Wright told ABC News affiliate 10 News. “He was just swinging his arms trying to get out of it. Somebody had taped him to the balloons.”

Wright rang up the Humane Society, who sent the fire department an hour later to try to free the turtle. But just as the fire officials were about to cut the turtle loose, a gust of wind blew it safely down to earth.

A Humane Society employee on the scene said it was a box turtle.

Joel Rabago, another Oceanside resident, said his mother began to film the turtle’s plight. “When something like this happens, she always takes the video camera, no matter what it is,” Rabago told 10 News.

Rabago said that although the turtle escaped unscathed from its misadventure, he’s still outraged.

“What were you thinking? I mean, a turtle is still life. There’s no reason to be putting him up in a balloon and sending him off,” Rabago said.

More than 30 juvenile western swamp tortoises were released into Twin Swamps Nature Reserve in Perth’s northern suburbs in a conservation milestone.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion said the release of 34 tortoises was part of the State’s recovery plan to increase the chance of survival for Australia’s most endangered reptile.

“The plan has exceeded all expectations with more than 570 captive-bred tortoises released since the recovery program commenced in 1990,” he said.