HERP NEWS 365/2009

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) 31 December 09 Bitten by a snake: man left dizzy and nauseous

(AAP) A Victorian man is recovering in hospital after being bitten by a snake at a property south-east of Melbourne.

The man, aged in his 30s, was flown to The Alfred hospital, after being bitten on the ankle while in long grass at Iona about 9pm yesterday.

Intensive care paramedic Jason Callanan said the man had two puncture wounds on his right ankle and was feeling dizzy and nauseous when the ambulance crew arrived.

"He was bitten in long grass and, although he did not see what had bitten him, the man told us he had seen a brown snake near the property in the past week," Mr Callanan said in a statement.

"He developed chest pain which we treated by putting a drip in his arm to give him some pain relief."

Paramedics used a compression bandage and splint to immobilise the patient's leg.

He was flown to hospital in a stable condition.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/bitten-by-a-snake-man-left-dizzy-and-nauseous-20091231-lkjw.html

DESERET NEWS (Salt Lake City, Utah) 31 December 09 St. George man loses snakes in trailer fire (Paul Koepp)

St. George: A man keeping about 20 snakes in a travel trailer lost a few of his pets in a fire Thursday.

St. George Fire Capt. Jason Whipple said a malfunctioning heat lamp used to warm the snakes apparently sparked the blaze shortly before 11 a.m. in an RV park near 2100 East and Middleton Drive.

The fire was "pretty small," causing only about $5,000 in smoke and heat damage, he said. Crews were able to contain it in time to save most of the snakes, some of them pythons and boas up to 10 feet long.

The owner was not home at the time.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705355338/St-George-man-loses-snakes-in-trailer-fire.html?linkTrack=rss-30

SAN PEDRO SUN (Ambergris Caye, Belize) 31 December 09 Crocodile attacks pet during holiday weekend

Feeding crocodiles has been a dangerous practice in years past. The dangers of it have been explained on countless occasions and performing this action has been deemed illegal by law. Any person caught feeding these wild reptiles may be liable to a fine or imprisonment. Although, the law is there and although warnings have continuously been posted illegal crocodile feeding continues every so often.

The biggest danger stemming from feeding crocodiles is that they begin to associate people with food. With less food sources available to them these animals tend to look for something that will curb their appetite. That is just what they found on December 24th, at the Ambergris Lake. Corri Sterrenberg, owner, explained that shortly after hearing her American staffy, Ginger, yelp the most gut wrenching cry for help, she ran to the sound in the hopes of finding her pet. What she found was a severly injured Ginger, blood soaked and lying in a neighbor’s yard. The neighbor’s yard lies on the edge of the Lake. Based on the wounds presented on Ginger’s frame, Sterrenberg assessed that she had been attacked by a crocodile. “This lake is home to crocodiles and two weeks ago, I lost my Boston terrier to the same fate,” she says.

Sterrenberg immediately called Dr. Laurie Droke and advised her of the situation, and Ginger was immediately rushed to the newly opened Animal Hospital. Dr. Droke commenced work on Ginger and five hours later she was patched back up. Ginger’s skull had been ripped open, there was a one-inch hole in her diaphragm, both legs suffered bites while a leg on her artery was slashed. Based on the severe wounds and the depth of the gashes, it is ascertained that Ginger was attacked by a crocodile. Due to the excessive blood loss experienced Ginger is lucky to be alive.

Ginger’s luck is attributed to the immediate assistance rendered by Dr. Droke. Having bled to death could have been Ginger’s fate but because of the first class treatment received she is on her way to a full recovery.

http://www.sanpedrosun.net/09-503.html

LE FASO (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) 31 December 09 Morsures De Serpent A Gaoua: Quand la sorcellerie s’en mêle (Hompko Sylvestre Kambou)

La région du Sud-Ouest a une flore riche, abondante et est de ce fait favorable à un développement d’une faune diversifiée. Avec en sus son relief accidenté et caillouteux, elle constitue un terrain propice aux serpents. Cependant, tous ne sont pas inoffensifs comme la couleuvre d’Esculape (ndlr : serpent non venimeux symbole du dieu grec de la médecine, souvent enroulé autour du bâton d’Esculape, emblème des pharmaciens et des médecins) ou le python. Il y en a qui sont venimeux et très mortels tels que les vipéridés. Conséquence : les cas de morsures sont légion dans la région. Ils sont même un véritable problème de santé publique.

En 2009 par exemple, et selon les données recueillies au service d’urgences du Centre hospitalier régional de Gaoua (CHR), il y a eu 120 cas dont 5 décès. Mais cela n’est que la partie visible de l’iceberg. La sorcellerie qui hante constamment les esprits en cas de morsure freine la prise en charge rapide et augmente le nombre de décès. Nous avons tenté de mieux cerner ce problème de morsure de serpent dans la région où la croyance, la pauvreté, les modes de vie sont des facteurs d’aggravation.

Les morsures de serpents sont fréquentes dans la région du Sud-Ouest. Le hic est que l’idée de sorcellerie entrave le mode de prise en charge. La croyance est simple et basée sur le fait qu’une morsure de serpent n’est pas forcément gratuite. « Un serpent peut être envoyé dans le but de faire du mal à quelqu’un », a martelé le tradipraticien et adjudant- chef à la retraite Sansan Kambou. Et M. Kambou d’ajouter : « Un serpent normal quand vous le tuez, il y a des intestins. Par contre, un serpent envoyé quand vous le dépecez par le dos, il n’y a pas d’intestins. En ce moment-là, il faut le suspendre sur une branche d’arbre, la tête en bas jusqu’à la guérison du malade. Si vous le jetez la victime meurt. » Il en convient cependant qu’il peut arriver qu’une morsure soit des plus ordinaires, c’est-à-dire sur le coup de la coïncidence.

C’est pourquoi en ce qui concerne la conduite à tenir, il dit : « Il faut envoyer le malade en urgence, mais il faut consulter pour un traitement traditionnel. Dans le cas contraire, le malade peut mourir malgré les soins à l’hôpital ». Visiblement contrarié entre-temps par notre favorable volonté de comprendre, il lâche : « Vous pouvez interroger beaucoup de Lobi. Dans l’ancien temps, il y a des gens qui se transformaient en éléphant, en panthère, etc., les gens ne croient pas mais c’est comme ça. » L’adjudant-chef à la retraite soutient avoir traité et guéri 5 personnes. Le réflexe des gens lorsqu’un serpent mord un proche est de dépecer le reptible pour vérifier la présence des viscères. Nous en avons fait le constat avec un vieux mordu par un gros serpent et qui avait été soigné à l’hôpital. Nous y avons trouvé la vipère dépecée. Une autre personne, fonctionnaire de son état qui avait perdu son père des suites de morsure de serpent, nous a confié que ce dernier a été "fait" par la sorcellerie. « Lorsque mon père a été mordu par un serpent, mon petit frère l’a fait dépecer. Il n’a trouvé aucun intestin. On lui a conseillé de le suspendre sur une branche d’un arbre de la cour. Il l’a fait et avant le soir le serpent mort avait disparu ».

Recours fréquent à la médecine traditionnelle

Cet état d’esprit fait que lorsqu’il est question de soigner le mordu, si le recours au traitement à la poudre noire ne prend pas le dessus sur celui de la médecine moderne les deux se côtoient. Généralement, le traitement traditionnel se fait les premiers instants pour parer à toute éventualité. Ce fut le cas de l’élève Doulaye. Doulaye Palé venait de réussir avec brio à son Certificat d’études primaires dans la Circonscription d’éducation de base (CEB) de Nako. Il était même le premier de la CEB. Comme bon nombre d’enfants de son âge, il partit aider ses parents au champ dans son village à Poyo. Pendant qu’il fauchait l’herbe, il empoigna un serpent qui le mord au bras. Ses parents décidèrent de le traiter de façon traditionnelle. Mais les notions qu’il avait reçues à l’école concernant les serpents venimeux lui ont permis de mesurer le risque qu’il encourait. Il demanda à ses parents de l’envoyer à l’hôpital. Ce qui fut fait le même jour. C’est d’ailleurs là-bas que nous avons échangé avec son grand-frère, Sib Tiolaté, qui était à son chevet. Pendant notre entretien, nous avons remarqué qu’il évitait de dire que le serpent l’avait mordu. A chaque fois, il disait que la paille l’avait piqué. Cela nous a rappelé qu’en la matière, c’est l’expression consacrée en pays lobi.

C’est ainsi qu’il a expliqué qu’on évite de dire que le serpent l’a mordu afin que le produit traditionnel qui lui a été administré garde ses vertus. En outre, selon lui, lorsqu’on appelle le nom du serpent qui a mordu quelqu’un, ce dernier réagit dans l’organisme avec beaucoup de vigueur et le traitement devient caduc. C’est ainsi que nous avons pu comprendre que l’enfant avait eu un traitement à domicile avant d’être évacué à l’hôpital. C’était une scarification au front sur laquelle une poudre noire avait été appliquée. En plus, il a bu une potion. Qu’à cela ne tienne il avait en plus reçu les soins nécessaires à l’hôpital ; le sérum anti-vénin lui a même été administré. Du reste, son visage s’est empli de joie lorsqu’il était question de savoir comment il se portait. Et pourtant, elles sont nombreuses à perdre la vie dans le silence ces personnes victimes de morsures de serpent et qui optent de recourir exclusivement à la médecine traditionnelle. Filtounoté Kambou, infirmier de son état, a perdu son grand-frère Irfité Kambou dans ces conditions. Il explique : « Quand il a été mordu par un serpent, j’étais à Ouagadougou. Lorsque je suis venu, j’ai été informé et le lendemain je l’ai trouvé au village en très mauvais état.

C’est ainsi que j’ai décidé de l’amener à l’hôpital où il a reçu des soins intensifs. Malheureusement, il n’a pas survécu. Il est décédé le 10 juillet 2009. Comme je n’étais pas là, les parents ont préféré le garder à la maison et lui administrer des produits traditionnels. Cela s’est compliqué par la suite ; il avait la jambe presque pourrie. » C’est en effet après une dizaine de jours de traitement à la poudre noire et aux décoctions qu’il avait été conduit au CHR de Gaoua. Yerbina Somé du village de Wolwolà dans la commune rurale de Bousséra est une autre victoire récente de la "piqûre de la paille". Mais pour cette femme, le traitement traditionnel n’a duré que deux jours au village. Son fils Da Sié a décidé d’interrompre un tel traitement pour l’évacuer au CSPS de Bousséra. Le major Sylvain Nikièma qui l’avait reçue au CSPS a jugé entre- temps, son cas critique et l’avait référé à l’hôpital de Gaoua.

Le sérum, cher malgré tout

Le 8 décembre dernier, c’était le 19e jour de sa morsure et la victime était pratiquement dans le coma. Selon lui, les dépenses à ce jour, s’élevaient à plus de 135 000 F CFA. Pourtant, les derniers examens ont révélé un cas de complication notamment une insuffisance rénale. Mais le fils, ne pouvant plus honorer les ordonnances, a obtenu l’autorisation de rentrer avec son malade après avoir formulé une demande. Bohité Kambiré a, quant à lui, eu plus de chance en recourant à un tradipraticien. Ce dernier est également un militaire à la retraite et est réputé dans le traitement des morsures de serpent à Gaoua. Selon M. Kambiré, deux de ses enfants ont été sauvés par ce dernier. Dans son témoignage, il a fait savoir que plusieurs autres personnes ont été soignées par ce guérisseur du nom de Nébilima Bako. Il a même des recettes pour éloigner ces reptiles des concessions. Contacté, il nous a présenté le nombre de cas qu’il a soignés en 2009 : dans le Poni, il dit avoir soigné 16 cas, 3 au Noumbiel, 4 cas dans la Bougouriba et 1 cas au Boulgou.

A la question de savoir quel a été le taux de réussite, en militaire il répond que c’est positif. C’est-à-dire un taux de guérison de 100%. Mais le bilan n’est pas aussi rose qu’il veut le faire croire. Il se trouve qu’une patiente qu’il dit avoir tirée d’affaire est pourtant décédée des suites de sa morsure. Mais cette situation déplorable lui avait échappé. Le parent de la défunte, Ditouté Da, n’avait pu le tenir informé du décès de la femme pour laquelle il avait sollicité un traitement. « Avec la mort de cette femme, je crois vraiment aux morsures de serpent par sorcellerie » avait déclaré M. Da Ditouté ; car pour lui, toutes les conditions étaient réunies pour qu’elle soit sauvée. Il dit avoir évacué la femme seulement quelques heures après la morsure. En plus, le sérum était disponible pour la traiter. De surcroît, de son côté, c’était une pratique contraire aux précédentes. Il avait commencé par la médecine moderne le même jour. Le contact avec le tradipraticien a été pris lorsque la situation lui semblait désespérée.

Bien que le sérum au coût initial est de 78 000 F CFA soit subventionné à 25 000 F CFA par l’Etat, certains pensent que c’est son prix est malgré tout inabordable.

La plupart de ceux qui ont eu recours aux tradipraticiens pour soigner les envenimations par morsures de serpent soutiennent avoir opté pour ce type de soin en raison également de son coût peu élevé. Pour une personne mordue, c’est généralement un poulet et 15 ou 20 F CFA qu’il faut donner après guérison. Pour Ditouté Da, c’est la pauvreté qui est à l’origine du recours aux détenteurs de la poudre noire. A ce propos, il s’en explique : « De nos jours, on dit que la tuberculose se traite gratuitement. Qui va se permettre dans un tel cas de figure de traiter sa tuberculose à l’indigénat ? »

Il fait par ailleurs savoir qu’un tradipraticien l’avait impressionné en soignant son enfant mordu par un serpent alors qu’il s’était évanoui et saignait abondamment. Le gamin s’est remis de sa morsure au bout de quelques heures. Maintenant, le sérum est disponible à l’hôpital de Gaoua. Ce qui n’était pas le cas dans les années 2002 jusqu’en 2006. La provision en sérum se faisait à Bobo. C’était curieusement à Batié que beaucoup de personnes se rendaient pour se ravitailler en sérum. Tombeau Koné est infirmier. Il était lui aussi renommé dans le traitement des morsures de serpent à Gaoua à cette période. Son procédé était singulier. Il soignait les patients grâce à un appareil d’électrochoc. « C‘est un traitement qui consiste à faire une décharge sur un rayon d’environ 5 cm en 6 fois. Ça fait mal puisque c’est du courant. Quand vous finissez de décharger, vous voyez que le malade transpire et après, la douleur disparaît » dit-il. Là encore, les statistiques qu’il a présentées démontrent que celles des centres de santé sont loin de refléter la réalité pour ce qui concerne les morsures de serpent.

« Dans la première tranche, j’ai eu à traiter au moins 100 personnes et 96 d’entre elles ont été sauvées », selon Tombeau Koné. La deuxième évaluation a été également satisfaisante car le taux de succès était de 98%. M. Koné dit qu’il avait l’autorisation de la direction régionale de la Santé. L’obligation lui était faite de remplir régulièrement des fiches d’évaluation. A la question de savoir pourquoi les victimes avaient recours à lui au lieu d’aller à l’hôpital, l’infirmier répond : « Il n’y avait pas de sérum ici. Pour en avoir, il fallait envoyer en chercher à Bobo. C’est pourquoi on me faisait appel à chaque fois qu’il y avait un cas ». Il fait savoir que le traitement était sans séquelles. En sus, il présentait le plus bas tarif pour la prise en charge d’une morsure de serpent : il réclamait juste 250 F CFA pour la recharge de la batterie. Avec la disponibilité du sérum, il a rangé son matériel d’électrochoc, qui est d’ailleurs tombé en panne.

Des malades qui arrivent en retard à l’hôpital

Dr Harouna Doro, médecin- chef au service des urgences du CHR de Gaoua, a soutenu que les 120 cas reçus à l’hôpital et les 5 décès enregistrés sont loin de refléter la réalité. Il indique que, malgré tout, les morsures occupent le 5e rang dans les pathologies prises en charge par l’hôpital. Pour lui, le centre de santé est mieux indiqué pour une prise en charge des morsures de serpent dont certaines sont très dangereuses. Il soutient que dans le protocole de prise en charge d’une morsure le sérum est généralement utilisé aux 3e et 4e stades car certains serpents peuvent mordre sans pour autant être inquiétants par leur venin.

« Malheureusement la plupart des malades nous arrivent en retard à un moment où ils sont anémiés », déplore Dr Doro. L’une des caractéristiques du venin du serpent est sa capacité à lyser les globules rouges du sang et à provoquer des saignements. C’est à ce titre que les cas critiques nécessitent généralement une transfusion sanguine. Ce que les tradipraticiens ne peuvent pas faire. Et selon le médecin-chef, les élèves sont les principaux fournisseurs de sang à l’hôpital. Pourtant, c’est pendant les vacances que le taux de morsures est plus élevé. Un centre de transfusion est donc nécessaire pour juguler le problème selon le pharmacien de l’hôpital, Dr Millogo. Pour l’heure, le sérum polyvalent permet de lutter efficacement contre les morsures.

Le directeur général des médicaments, de la pharmacie et du laboratoire, Dr Mahamadou Compaoré, a tout de même relevé un fait qui avait attiré l’attention de plus d’un lors d’une rencontre pendant la tournée du ministre de la Santé. Selon lui, au Burkina particulièrement dans la portion comprise entre Gaoua et Sindou, il y a deux espèces de serpents qui n’ont pas été prises en compte dans le cocktail de venin fabriqué. La recherche des deux types de serpent a d’ailleurs été sans succès. Et Dr Compaoré de dire que « si ce serpent mordait quelqu’un, il va être difficile de sauver cette personne même avec le sérum polyvalent ».

Toutefois, et selon toujours le directeur des médicaments, le sérum polyvalent permet actuellement de réduire de façon considérable la mortalité liée aux morsures de serpents. La fréquence des morsures dans la région est, de l’avis de Lazare Bougouma, chef de service départemental de l’Environnement et du Cadre de vie, liée à une insuffisance de prise de précautions. « Ce n’est pas à Gaoua seulement qu’il y a beaucoup de serpents, ailleurs aussi on en trouve », fait-il savoir d’emblée. Dans la plupart des cas de morsures, le serpent mord en légitime défense. Malheureusement, les élèves sont les plus touchés. En témoignent les nombreux communiqués nécrologiques à la radio. Dans la CEB de Loropéni, par exemple, il y a eu au cours de l’année scolaire écoulée 5 cas dont 3 décès parmi les élèves.

Le conseiller Ditouté Da a du reste énuméré quelques cas de figure où la vigilance et la précaution ne sont pas de mise dans la région : c’est notamment la marche la nuit sans des chaussures protectrices ni une torche pour éclairer le chemin. Aucune précaution non plus n’est prise dans les travaux champêtres. Mais pour Dr Stanislas Kambou que nous avons également interrogé lors de la tournée, l’un des principaux facteurs favorisant les morsures dans la région est le manque d’hygiène caractérisée par les cultures proches des maisons d’habitation. Comme conseil, il préconise de cultiver le maïs et le mil loin des concessions. S’agissant des morsures de serpents que certains imputent à la sorcellerie, le docteur Kambou, chargé de la recherche et du système d’informations à la santé dans les 15 pays membres de la CEDEAO, déclare plutôt sceptique : « Vous savez qu’en Afrique, aucune mort n’est naturelle. Il y a toujours quelqu’un qui vous en veut. Dans tous les cas, même si la poudre noire est appliquée, je demande d’aller à l’hôpital pour qu’on fasse le sérum ».

http://www.lefaso.net/spip.php?article34721&rubrique4

PRAGUE DAILY MONITOR (Czech Republic) 31 December 09 Snake keeper bit by viper in critical condition

Prerov, North Moravia (ČTK): A 19-year-old Czech keeper of exotic snakes has been hospitalised in a critical state this night after being bit by venomous viper Puff ader (Bitis arietans), Tomas Zelazko, from the Agel company operating the Prerov hospital, told CTK.

The young man suffers from a serious defect of blood coagulability and his life is threatened.

The Puff ader, which many consider the most dangerous of African snakes, probably bit him when he delivered water in the vivarium.

"The patient stays at the coronary ward. He has received antidote that has been brought from Prague," Zelazko said.

Several weeks ago, the same man was hospitalised in the same hospital after being bit by the horned desert viper (Cerastes cerastes), another venomous species of African origin.

He escaped without serious complications from the previous incident.

http://praguemonitor.com/2009/12/31/snake-keeper-bit-viper-critical-condition

BURNABY NEWS LEADER (British Columbia) 30 December 09 The year the little turtles roared (Wanda Chow)

With heavy equipment sitting along the shores of Burnaby Lake ready to get to work on the several-years-in-the-making dredging project, Burnaby city hall finally met its match—in the Western painted turtle.

Concerns about the fate of the endangered reptile caused the provincial environment ministry to hold back the last remaining permits needed, seemingly at the eleventh hour.

The project will remove 200,000 cubic metres of sediment from Burnaby Lake, which has been filling up with silt and slowly turning into a swamp. When complete, wildlife habitat will be rejuvenated and the lake re-established as an international standard rowing course.

Despite having its environmental management plan for the project approved several years ago, Burnaby engineering director Lambert Chu said the city only learned about additional requirements to protect the turtles in late summer.

When city staff contacted the ministry in February that it was going ahead with the project and would need its permits, they received no response, said Chu. No alarm bells went off since past experience dealing with the ministry showed they often didn’t respond right away because of their workload. Essentially, no news is usually good news.

It was June before ministry staff contacted Burnaby. That’s when they learned there would be additional requirements in dealing with the turtles in the lake.

Jennifer McGuire, the ministry’s regional manager for environmental stewardship, said Burnaby simply never provided the information needed to assess the permit applications. They needed to provide data showing how many Western painted turtles there are—biologists estimate there are 80 to 100—in the lake and where they overwinter. By the time Burnaby applied for and received its telemetry permit—to catch the turtles, attach radio transmitters to them and track their whereabouts in the lake—ministry officials believed it was too close to its hibernation season to be of any use.

But Burnaby forged ahead.

It managed to capture six turtles, which helped show that they were still active even as temperatures dropped.

And it came up with an innovative way to find the reptiles buried in the lake bottom, using sonar and ground-penetrating radar which are typically used to find underground pipes and by police to find dead bodies.

Using such technology is “pretty innovative, it’s never been used before, so kudos to the City of Burnaby for going above and beyond to search out a new way of being able to find the turtles,” said McGuire.

“The rejuvenation project of Burnaby Lake is important to both the city of Burnaby but also to the province and definitely to the turtle and other species at risk.”

With the final wildlife salvage permit issued in mid-December, Burnaby contractors can now remove any turtles and other wildlife they find in the dredge zone and relocate them to an overwintering facility on the shores of the lake before work begins.

McGuire noted that there are still a number of conditions in place to help protect the turtles. If the biologists find a cluster of three or more of the reptiles in one place, a buffer must be put around them so they’re not disturbed–the idea being there must be something really good about that habitat so leave it alone.

If crews find five female turtles within a dredge zone, the city will have further discussions with the ministry “so we can manage how many is too many turtles to be disturbed,” she said.

The city’s contractor, Enkon Environmental, was to continue wildlife salvage work through the end of December. Dredging contractor Hazco will begin setting up equipment for the dredging work starting Jan. 4, about four months later than originally planned.

Chu said he’s still calculating the cost of the delay and will be informing city council of the final numbers at an upcoming council meeting.

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the delay in the project had been “extremely costly to the taxpayer” and was the result of political games being played.

He’s still “thoroughly confident” that Burnaby staff did everything they were required to do before applying for the permits.

“We know the long-term ramifications [of the project] are 100 years in the future ... The health of the lake trumps all these issues.

“Necessity is the mother of invention and we’re nothing in Burnaby if not resourceful.”

http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/news/80277107.html

ANANOVA (London, UK) 30 December 09 Snake saves family from fire

A Chinese man who nursed a dying snake back to health claims it saved his family by raising the alarm when their house was on fire.

Yu Feng, of Fushun, in Liaoning province, found the dying black snake outside his home, reports the Liaosheng Evening Post.

"I treated it with herbal medicines, and in 20 days it recovered," he said.

He took the snake to a nearby mountain more than a mile away to release it back into the wild - but the next morning it was back at his house.

"I then set it free another two times, but it always came back," Yu added. "People around me said the snake had come back to repay my kindness, so I kept it."

He named the snake Long Long and adopted it as a pet - then one night, he claims it saved the whole family.

Yu explained: "I was asleep when suddenly I felt something cold on my face. I opened my eyes and it was Long Long.

"He had never woken me up before but I was so sleepy I went back to sleep. But Long Long grabbed my clothes with his teeth and whipped the bed with his tail.

"Then he went to my mother's bed and whipped her bed with his tail. I woke up then and smelt something burning, and saw my mother's electric blanket was on fire so I leapt up and turned it off."

Local reptile experts say snakes don't have the intelligence to act in this way - but Yu believes Long Long acted out of kindness, to repay Feng for saving his own life.

http://www.ananova.com/News/story/sm_3618918.html

GULF NEWS (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) 30 December 09 Pet python's owner charged with endangering residents (Mariam M. Al Serkal)

A three-metre-long python that Sharjah Police handed over to the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife after it was spotted on the street. Image Credit: ABdul Nasar Kaindar/Gulf News readerSharjah: The owner of a Burmese python discovered by residents on Sunday has been charged by police with endangering the lives of residents.

According to a senior official at Sharjah Police, the owner approached police because he wanted to claim his python that had cost him Dh40,000.

In a statement to the police, the owner said that he worked as a snake trader at the Bird and Animal Market, and used his python for snake shows. The snake was imported from the US and the owner claimed that the python was harmless.

Police said the python, which is currently under the care of the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah, is three metres long and weighs 35kg.

Police said the owner kept the python in a cage inside his apartment in the Al Naba'a area. On Sunday afternoon, the snake managed to escape from the cage and left the apartment by slithering through the bathroom window and eventually ended up on the street.

The Operation Control Room at Sharjah Police said they received a call at 3pm about a large snake that fell from a date palm on the roadside.

"It was difficult at first to capture the snake because it was scared from the loud cries of the people who surrounded it, and it moved randomly from one place to another. Eventually, we managed to put it in a bag and call Sharjah Municipality to take action," said the police official.

Police said that although the snake is not poisonous it is a very dangerous animal as it can put the lives of children at risk, and that if they are used as an exotic pet the owners should ensure that they are kept in a secure environment.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/pet-python-s-owner-charged-with-endangering-residents-1.559438

THE STAR (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) 30 December 09 Study to help in turtle conservation

Sandakan: Blood samples were taken from 69 green turtles and nine hawksbill turtles under a study in Semporna to determine the turtle population at feeding grounds.

Dr Juanita Joseph, who led the group of researchers from the Sea Turtle Research Unit in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, said the turtles were also marked before they were released.

“The marking was done at the feeding ground for long-term observation and monitoring,” she said here.

She said that similar studies had been conducted in Australia and the United States.

However, the study in Sabah carried out from Sept 29 to Oct 12 was the first in Malaysia. It covered two areas – the Tun Sakaran Marine Park and Sipadan Islands.

The study was important to aid efforts in turtle conservation and to identify feeding grounds threatened by fishing, said Dr Joseph.

She said the study’s outcome would be presented in a working paper on strategies to address illegal catching of turtles in Malaysian waters and the Indo-Pacific region. — Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/12/30/southneast/5375700&sec=southneast

CAIRNS POST (Australia) 30 December 09 Python snatches joey in backyard (Ben Blomfield)

A Cooktown family watched in horror as a python living in their backyard ate a young wallaby while its mum kicked and scratched the snake in vain to save the joey.

The 4m scrub python ambushed a group of wallabies about 4.30pm on Monday while the Barton-Ilic family watched from their veranda.

In less than 45 minutes, the wallaby had been suffocated and swallowed.

The python quickly retreated to a hole on the property where the family lives.

Snake handlers have covered the serpent’s den with rocks and will attempt to remove it.

Judith Barton-Ilic felt like she was watching Animal Planet with her kids Braidyn, 13, and Tiarn, 10, when the action unfolded.

"The poor mother was trying to stop the snake from eating its baby and was jumping on it," she said.

"Our cats would just be a snack and because it was a decent size wallaby, I’m incredibly worried for my kids.

"We felt like we were watching Animal Planet live because the veranda is only about 10 foot off the ground."

Last year The Cairns Post reported several cases of pythons caught eating wallabies.

A 5m python was filmed eating a wallaby on the banks of the Barron River in February.

And in November, a 4m snake was seen tucking into a 1m tall wallaby at Mooroobool.

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/12/30/85095_local-news.html

THE PANTAGRAPH (Bloomington, Illinois) 30 December 09 Letter: Banning pythons, boas a ridiculous response

Senate bill S 373 could destroy a growing $3 billion a year industry and cause grief for pet owners everywhere, by banning the import, export and interstate transport of nine python, boa and anaconda species.

Some large pythons are establishing populations in the Everglades, and fear of these animals has been exacerbated by the recent death of a Florida toddler.

Invasive pythons are a problem, but banning transport nationally is ridiculous. These tropical species could never establish a breeding population in states reaching temperatures below 60 degrees or in arid climates like Arizona.

This ban would include the three largest python species, all anaconda species and the boa constrictor, one of the most popular pet snakes. There has never been a confirmed human fatality blamed on this species.

Large pythons can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but responsible owners take almost excessive precautions. Those behind this bill would include many other species if they had their way. The original write-up encompassed all pythons, including the ball python, a small harmless species that is by far the most popular pet snake.

There have been 12 python-related deaths in the United States since 1980, yet dogs kill 30 people a year. Pythons are invading Florida while feral cats are disturbing habitats worldwide.

If these same measures targeted dogs and cats, the public uproar would be tremendous. Instead they’re attacking a fringe group of pet owners, and there’s a very real danger that this bill will fly under the public’s radar.

Katie Harness, LeRoy

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_f12809be-f4da-11de-939a-001cc4c03286.html

THE STAR (Portt St. Joe, Florida) 30 December 09 Annual Herp Survey Underway (Tim Croft)

They’re back.

For something along the lines of their 11th or 12th year Dr. Joe Collins, a world-renowned herpetologist from the University of Kansas, his lovely wife, Suzanne, and at least part of the traveling caravan of students and researchers that revolve around Collins like snakes to St. Peter, have arrived in the area.

As they do every year they are here to enjoy a bit of sunny Florida and undertake the annual Florida Panhandle Herpetofaunal Survey, counting the various species of all things ick, lizards, snakes, frogs and lizards for starters, in the area.

In part is a just plain fun, as Collins, a jocular storyteller extraordinaire, lives his passion for his creatures. And in part, it is an accounting of the relative health of the local environment, as the number of creatures can be a reflection of the health, or ills, of the land.

The survey began last Tuesday and will continue over the next month or so, covering the Florida counties of Franklin, Gulf, Leon, and Wakulla. Specific areas formally surveyed include or will include St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve, St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge, Bald Point State Park, Ochlockonee River State Park, and Florida Caverns State Park.

As of Monday, when this paper went to press, the following species had been observed:

Southern Toad (7), Southern Cricket Frog (4), Green Treefrog (9), Pine Woods Treefrog (1), Spring Peeper (countless), Southern Chorus Frog (countless), Upland Chorus Frog (countless), Ornate Chorus Frog (5), Pig Frog (2), Southern Leopard Frog (6); Green Anole (13), Fence Lizard (2), Ground Skink (9), Six-lined Racerunner (1), Eastern Racer (1), Coachwhip (1), Salt Marsh Snake (1), Brown Water Snake (1), Brown Snake (1), Cottonmouth (1), Pigmy Rattlesnake (5), Suwannee River Cooter (5) and American Alligator (countless).

Total specimens observed number 155 (countless means more than 20 observed, but they are counted as 20).

In the coming weeks we will be following Dr. Collins and his merry band so look for more in upcoming editions.

http://www.starfl.com/news/underway-19901-annual-bodycopy.html

DAILY HERALD (Arlington Heights, Illinois) 30 December 09 Lawsuit claims boy pets snake, gets salmonella (Bob Susnjara)

A lawsuit seeking $50,000 in damages has been lodged against a reptile store and zoo in Gurnee Mills after a 2-year-old boy purportedly contracted salmonella after petting a snake there in December 2007.

Serpent Safari Inc. violated state laws by not providing liquid sanitizer for patrons or having a sign warning of infection risk to children younger than 5 who touch or handle reptiles, according to the complaint, filed Dec. 11 in Lake County circuit court.

Lawyer Michael Maher, who didn't return telephone messages Tuesday, filed the suit on behalf of Sara Wirtz and her son, Trevor, and Judith Penoyer, all of McHenry County. Without providing specifics, the suit alleges Penoyer also contracted salmonella.

Serpent Safari owner Lou Daddono countered that he's confident the albino Burmese python that Trevor would have petted did not pass on salmonella. The snake lives at the store and is not for sale.

Daddono, who also denied the negligence claims, estimated more than 400,000 visitors have touched the python without a problem in his 11 years in business. He questioned why it took two years for the salmonella suit to be filed.

Salmonella is commonly known as a bacterial disease that can be contracted from contaminated food, with diarrhea, headache and nausea as symptoms. It also is spread when infected food handlers don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom.

However, reptiles such as snakes, lizards and turtles - along with chicks and young birds - are particularly likely to harbor salmonella, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends hand-washing after touching a reptile or bird.

The lawsuit states Trevor was "allowed and encouraged" by a Serpent Safari employee to pet the snake when he visited the facility Dec. 14, 2007. Trevor was 2 at the time.

On Dec. 17, 2007, Trevor was taken to Centegra Hospital-McHenry and diagnosed with salmonella, says the suit. Penoyer, who was "actively involved" in Trevor's care, also purportedly contracted salmonella after the Serpent Safari visit.

Serpent Safari's lack of sanitizer or signs noting the need for hand-washing after coming in contact with reptiles amounted to negligence, the complaint alleges. More than $50,000 in damages are sought from the business.

Penoyer suffered "severe and permanent illness and/or injuries, externally and internally," says the suit. The complaint states Trevor's hospital expenses and other medical care will require his mother to pay large sums of money.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=347374

NOVINKY (Prague, Czech Republic) 30 December 09 Mladíka uštkla zmije, bojuje o život

život bojuje devatenáctiletý mladík, který byl ve středu hodinu po půlnoci přijat do nemocnice v Přerově poté, co jej uštkla zmije útočná. „Jeho stav je velmi vážný,“ řekl Právu Tomáš Želazko, mluvčí holdingu Agel, jehož součástí je přerovská nemocnice.

K mladíkově poranění podle něj došlo, když chovaným hadům podával vodu. "Byl kousnut do hřbetu pravé ruky a jeho stav je velmi vážný," uvedl mluvčí.

Pacient má podle něj známky těžké poruchy krevní srážlivosti, takže je v ohrožení života, a hrozí mu amputace pravé ruky.

"Pacient byl hospitalizován na koronární jednotce. Již dostal protijed dovezený sanitním vozem z Prahy a ve 13 hodin by měl být transportován do Fakultní nemocnice v Olomouci na jednotku intenzivní péče chirurgických oborů," konstatoval mluvčí.

Chovatel exotických hadů, který bojuje o život, byl už před několika týdny podle něj hospitalizován na ARO v Přerově, a to po uštknutí zmijí rohatou. "Tehdy šlo však o bezproblémový průběh," dodal Želazko.

Zmije útočná patří mezi nejobávanější hady Afriky, kde způsobuje více než polovinu nebezpečných hadích uštknutí. Tento zavalitý had se při ohrožení nadouvá a syčí, a tak svého nepřítele varuje, než uštkne.

Had podle informací odborníků produkuje něco mezi 100 až 350 miligramy jedu. Stomiligramová dávka je přitom schopna usmrtit dospělého člověka. Zajímavostí je, že ve tkáních zmije útočné se ukládá velké množství tělesného tuku, který domorodí lékaři používají jako atirevmatikum.

http://www.novinky.cz/krimi/188021-mladika-ustkla-zmije-bojuje-o-zivot.html

BLESK (Prague, Czech Republic) 30 December 09 Mladého chovatele uštkla zmije: Bojuje o život!

Pořádně nepříjemný konec roku zažívá mladý chovatel hadů (19) z Přerova. Zmije útočná ho uštkla ve chvíli, kdy jí do terária podával vodu. Muž nyní v Přerovské nemocnici bojuje o život.

Podle zdravotníků je jeho stav velice vážný. Má těžké poruchy krevní srážlivosti a hrozí mu amputace pravé ruky. "Pacient byl hospitalizován na koronární jednotce. Již dostal protijed dovezený sanitním vozem z Prahy a ve 13 hodin by měl být transportován do Fakultní nemocnice v Olomouci na jednotku intenzivní péče chirurgických oborů," uvedl mluvčí nemocnice Tomáš Želazko pro deník Právo.

Není to poprvé, co mladík kvůli napadení svými ‘mazlíčky‘ skončil v nemocnici. Již před několika týdny byl v Přerově hospitalizován po uštknutí zmijí rohatou. Průběh otravy tehdy ale probíhal bez vážnějších komplikací.

http://www.blesk.cz/clanek/zpravy-krimi/129490/mladeho-chovatele-ustkla-zmije-bojuje-o-zivot.html

ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 29 December 09 Our take on: Snake snivelling

Dealers in dangerous non-native snakes are hissing about Florida Sen. Bill Nelson's proposal to ban importing and selling the creatures.

Mr. Nelson's bill would apply to nine specie of snakes, including Burmese pythons. Thousands of those pythons, which can grow to 20 feet long and 200 pounds, have infested the Everglades.

The senator's proposal also would target anacondas and boa constrictors, other exotic snakes well-suited to thrive in Florida's climate if — as with the pythons — they escape or are released into the wild by their owners.

Snake dealers complain that the ban would put the bite on their business. But any hardship for them is far outweighed by the damage the snakes do to native species, including mammals, birds and reptiles. Let's not forget the 2-year-old Sumter County girl killed in her crib this year by her family's python.

Congress needs to pass Mr. Nelson's bill, and snake dealers need to stick to native species.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-quickhits-122909-20091228,0,3389304.story

GULF NEWS (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) 29 December 09 Python gets a temporary home at animal centre (Mariam M. Al Serkal)

Sharjah: The Burmese python found in the Al Naba'a area on Sunday has found a temporary home at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah.

"The python is in good condition and is under observation, but it is too early to determine its exact condition because we only have been taking care of it for one day," said Paul Vercammen, operations manager at the centre.

Gulf News reported yesterday that the python was discovered by a taxi driver when he saw it falling from a date palm tree on the roadside. An Anjad patrol was then called to the scene to remove the snake, and then placed it in the custody of the breeding centre.

People wandering in the area were shocked when they saw the python that measured over one metre.

The Burmese python can grow up to three metres and when it grows big, its owners may find it difficult to handle so they release it, or at times it escapes. These pythons are dangerous as they kill prey by squeezing them to death.

Vercammen pointed out that the snake is not indigenous to the region and must have been imported by its owner.

"The police handed the python over to our centre until further notice. We do not know how long it will stay here as it depends on the legal procedure," he said, also noting that part of the legal procedure involves tracking down the owner and then issuing a decision as to who should take responsibility for the python.

He added that it is very likely that the python will remain in Sharjah since it was discovered there.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/python-gets-a-temporary-home-at-animal-centre-1.559128

THE OREGONIAN (Portland, Oregon) 29 December 09 Animal-protection laws put Oregon among top 5 states (Jacques Von Lunen) {Excerpts}

Anyone exploiting, neglecting or abusing animals will have an even harder time in Oregon come Friday.

A number of new animal laws will take effect Jan.1 in Oregon, which the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranks among the nation's top five states for going after animal abusers.

This year's legislative session debated 16 bills concerning animals, an unprecedented number. Some bills -- the umpteenth attempt to ban pit bulls, for example -- died on the vine. Some deal only with the finer points of enforcing animal law.

But six of the bills the governor signed are of direct concern to animal owners. Here's a look at the most profound changes.

…

Large exotics

S.B. 391 modifies existing law regarding private ownership of primates, large exotic cats, canines that aren't domestic dogs, bears and crocodilians.

Up until now, you could own one of these, provided you fulfilled a number of requirements regarding care and safety and obtained a permit from the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

The new law allows those who've been issued a permit previously, or who obtain one within 90 days of Jan.1, to keep their animals. Someone who buys an animal from that list before Jan.1 and can prove that the animal is kept in the manner required by law can get a permit within one year.

In essence, you can't buy a new exotic pet after Friday, and the agriculture department will not issue any new permits after Jan. 1, 2011.

The law provides a number of exemptions, such as for service monkeys used by people with certain disabilities, research facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers and others.

But private ownership of these animals as pets will become severely limited.

The law does not affect owners of common exotics such as parrots, rodents, snakes or other reptiles.

It makes an exception for exotic felines that weigh less than 50 pounds, if they're used to breed hybrid cats such as Bengal or Savannah cats.

…

http://www.oregonlive.com/pets/index.ssf/2009/12/pet_talk_animal-protection_law.html

HERALD-EXPRESS (Devon, UK) 29 December 09 'Chicken' frog saved from pot

Paignton Zoo has joined a global conservation project with the arrival of a rare species.

It is now home to a giant frog which has two misfortunes — it is both tasty and large enough to be a meal.

The mountain chicken, or giant ditch frog, is one of the largest frogs in the world weighing in at more than 2lbs.

A zoo spokesman said: "The mountain chicken might be one of the most-confusing animals in the world. It is not a bird and it doesn't live in the mountains but it is certainly one of the most endangered."

Disease and the threat is human consumption has contributed to its decline.

"The national dish of Dominica, the mountain chicken was so-called because of its large size and because its meat is said to taste like chicken.

"Its importance to Dominican culture is reflected in its inclusion in the national coat of arms.

"On Montserrat, in the Caribbean, the eruption of the island's volcano destroyed vital habitat."

It is listed as critically endangered and there are only about 160 individuals in captivity anywhere in the world

Now Paignton Zoo has taken receipt of its first mountain chicken, a four-year-old female has from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at Jersey Zoo via the Zoological Society of London.

She is being kept under strict bio-security conditions to protect against the spread of disease.

Mike Bungard, curator of lower vertebrates, said: "We want to get used to the basic husbandry of the species before we take on more.

"The plan is for us to act as a holding station for first generation zoo born.

"The plan is to release these frogs into the wild, although that relies on overcoming the problems in the wild that caused the decline in the first place."

The wild population has declined by 80 per cent in the last 10 years and the species is now critically endangered.

There are thought to be just 8,000 individuals left, and the species is found on the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat, though its range formerly extended to Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Zoological Society of London are leading the conservation work.

Paignton Zoo head reptile keeper Rod Keen is going to Jersey Zoo at the end of the month to train to work with the species.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Chicken-frog-saved-pot/article-1654505-detail/article.html

THE NEW PAPER (Singapore) 29 December 09 Tougher than leather (Ho Lian-Yi)

Jumping on a ferocious predator and tying it up is just an ordinary part of a crocodile farmer’s work.

But right now, Mr Robin Lee, 34, manager of Long Kuan Hung Crocodile Farm in Kranji, must wrestle with something even bigger – the recession.

“The price of crocodile skins have gone down 20 to 30 per cent over the last six months,” he said.

As incomes fell, even the rich have had to tighten their crocodile hide belts. That meant fewer buyers for super-costly exotic skin products.

A large, good-quality skin can fetch $1,000.

In the US, crocodile farmers have been floored by the collapse in price.

The New York Times recently reported that Louisiana farmers, who produce most of the world’s alligator skins, did not collect a single egg from the wild this year because they didn’t want to rear more alligators than needed.

Last year, they collected 500,000. Some of the smaller US farms will not survive the recession, reported NYT.

But Mr Lee, who has worked on his father’s crocodile farm since he was 20, said the business is still sustainable.

The farm, which is about the size of 12 football fields, houses nearly 9,000 crocodiles – nearly all of the saltwater variety.

Though the price of skin has fallen, his sales have remained largely constant.

Long Kuan Hung also sells crocodile meat, which has seen sales increase to 1,500kg a month from 1,000kg two years ago.

It is the sole supplier of crocodile meat here.

Mr Lee said the farm sells about 1,000 skins a year, mostly to Europe and Japan.

That output makes up just a trickle in the flow of crocodile and alligator skins that comes in and out of Singapore.

Every year, some 250,000 skins from all over the world pass through Heng Long International alone.

The listed Singapore company is one of the five largest crocodile skin tanneries in the world.

Heng Long managing director Mr Koh Chon Tong, 58, said: “Singapore is a major player in the global trade.”

His factory is one of two “independent” tanneries among the five big ones, he said. There is another that is based in France. Hermes owns two and Gucci owns the remaining one, he said.

The recession has also taken a bite out of Heng Long’s business. Its revenue for the first nine months of this year fell to $23.8 million compared to $53.9 million for the same period last year.

But there are signs that the global luxury goods market is stabilising as it saw its revenue go up to $8.2 million in the third quarter of this year from $7.9 million in the second quarter.

Mr Koh dismissed allegations by farmers in the NYT report that certain players in the European fashion business were deliberating suppressing the price of the raw product.

Mr Koh’s younger brother, Mr Koh Choon Heong, a director in Heng Long, pointed out that the “doom and gloom is mainly an American phenomenon”.

The skins of the alligators that are farmed in the US are used mostly for luxury watchbands – of which sales have taken an unusually heavy beating in the market.

Before this, a series of good years had prompted farmers there to expand production, which is why the sudden shrinkage in business hit them so hard, said the younger Mr Koh.

“But I think they’ll bounce back,” he said.

While demand for watch straps has slowed, the younger Mr Koh said demand for top branded crocodile-skin handbags – which can fetch tens of thousands of dollars – is still strong.

Mr Leonard Kwan, 58, the president of Singapore luxury handbag brand, Kwanpen, which sells crocodile and other exotic skin products, agreed.

He said: “I think Singapore is holding itself up very well. We have not really been affected by the recession.”

After a sale last December, he said he has cleared his old stock and has new models coming up in competitive prices.

Kwanpen’s best selling handbags go for between $4,000 and $6,000, he said.

In fact, he said total sales have gone up five per cent, thanks to the opening of three new stores in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore last year.

http://www.divaasia.com/article/6741

STAR-TELEGRAM (Fort Worth, Texas) 29 December 09 Zoo employee testifies that he never saw animals mistreated at Arlington business (Susan Schrock)

Arlington: A Fort Worth Zoo employee who bought and sold animals for himself at U.S. Global Exotics testified Tuesday that he never saw animals being mistreated at the north Arlington business.

Mike Doss, who was not representing the zoo, disputed the testimony of witnesses for Arlington that the business improperly housed animals and denied them food, water and veterinarian care.

The owners of U.S. Global, an Internet-based exotic-animal wholesaler, are trying to regain custody of more than 26,000 animals seized by the city Dec. 15 during an animal cruelty investigation. Tuesday was the fifth day of the custody hearing before Municipal Judge Michael Smith.

"I was impressed," Doss said of what he saw during regular visits to the business since 2006 to buy animals or sell those he had raised at home.

"They obviously invested a lot of money in their caging systems and how they took care of their animals."

Doss, who cares for coldblooded land animals at the zoo, said there are several plausible reasons why some of the snakes, lizards and turtles seized from the business appeared emaciated or sick. Most animals caught in the wild are not screened for illnesses or parasites before they are shipped to distributors, and the travel itself or exposure to a new environment can affect animals’ appetites, he said.

He concurred with testimony from U.S. Global employees that it is not unusual or inhumane to force hibernation for certain animals, such as lizards and turtles, by keeping them in low temperatures or to not feed animals before shipping so they don’t bloat or regurgitate during transport.

City investigators have testified that some animals were not fed for weeks at a time and that the company did not have enough food to care for the number of animals in stock.

Doss said he is also concerned about whether animal welfare officers harmed some of the temperature-sensitive animals during the raid, which occurred on a day that the high temperature was 44.

"I thought it was horrible to drag coldblooded animals out of a warm building on such a cold day," Doss said. "The shock of the temperature change could have killed them alone."

More than 1,000 animals have died since the seizure, but animal welfare workers attribute those deaths to the effects of neglect at the business, not the move. City attorneys said the vehicles used to take the animals to their temporary home were climate-controlled.

Doss testified that some of the conditions shown in photographs and videos during the hearing did appear to be inhumane or inappropriate, including photos of hundreds of baby turtles being stored in boxes, hundreds of iguanas that died after being left in shipping crates without food or water for two weeks, and footage of an employee shaking tree frogs out of the narrow opening of a plastic soft drink bottle. Doss said he does not condone U.S. Global’s method of euthanizing animals by placing them in a freezer to die.

However, Doss said, he was concerned that some of the situations might have been staged by former employee Howard Goldman, who took some of the photos.

Goldman, the city’s key witness, testified last week that PETA had asked him to apply for a job at U.S. Global Exotics to investigate conditions there.

PETA paid Goldman $135 for each day he turned in a report while working as a snake caretaker for seven months.

Doss said he discovered during a visit that Goldman had mislabeled some snakes as indigo snakes, an incident he now finds suspicious because those are an endangered species that U.S. Global does not have a permit to have.

Attorneys for U.S. Global Exotics were admonished Tuesday by the judge for trying to have Goldman arrested.

A private investigator apparently working for attorney Lance Evans called 911 on Monday from court to report that Goldman had admitted under oath that he was operating as a private investigator without a license, a violation of state law. Officers arrived at the court to investigate, but Goldman was not arrested.

Evans, who represents U.S. Global owners Jasen and Vanessa Shaw, declined to comment about the incident.

Linda Frank, an attorney for Arlington, said she was disappointed that U.S. Global’s attorneys would try to have a witness arrested to gain an edge during the civil hearing.

Smith is expected to decide custody of the animals, mostly reptiles, as soon as Thursday.

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1858995.html

DIARIO INFORMACION (Alicante, Spain) 29 December 09 Una boa constrictor logra quedarse preñada tras superar una larga enfermedad

Fuentes del parque de animales han indicado hoy que la gestación ha sido posible gracias a la total recuperación del reptil y a pesar de la dificultad que ese embarazo supone.

"El periodo del embarazo de las boas constrictor que viven en cautividad suele durar entre cuatro y cinco meses", según las mismas fuentes, que han indicado que, "por el grado de desarrollo que se observa en las radiografías, el veterinario del parque estima que faltan entre dos y tres meses para que nazcan las crías", entre los meses de febrero y marzo.

Las boas pueden llegar a tener partos muy numerosos, de hasta 60 crías, aunque la media está en 25.

Los técnicos del parque intuyeron que el reptil podía estar preñado cuando observaron que había dejado de comer y, además, tenía hinchado el último tercio del cuerpo, sospecha que fue confirmada luego por una radiografía en la que observaron los huevos en su interior.

Además, la boa fue sometida a una analítica y a otra radiografía para descartar que sufriera alguna enfermedad.

Debido a la dificultad del embarazo, los cuidadores mantienen al reptil en "condiciones especiales para que el embarazo llegue a su fin sin complicaciones", han señalado.

Para ello "se ha aumentado ligeramente la temperatura para un correcto desarrollo embrionario y, en caso de que la boa muestre interés por la comida, se le ofrecen presas más pequeñas para facilitarle la digestión".

Los técnicos del parque han preparado también una zona dentro de la instalación para que la boa pueda usarla de nido durante el parto.

"Tras dar a luz, las crías serán separadas de la madre debido a que ésta no se hace cargo de ellas y su instinto le conduce a buscar comida", han señalado.

En ese momento, desde el parque de animales han indicado que los cuidadores "le ofrecerán una presa mientras que las crías tomarán su primera comida una vez que hayan mudado la piel".

http://www.diarioinformacion.com/benidorm/2009/12/29/benidorm-constrictor-logra-quedarse-superar-larga-enfermedad/965340.html

ABS-CBN NEWS (Manila, Philippines) 28 December 09 Python causes power outage in Parañaque

Manila, Philippines: A 10-foot-long python was captured at the tower of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in BF Homes Parañaque Monday morning.

Rex Gomez, Meralco team leader in the area, said they found the "reticulated python" after conducting an inspection of the tower following a power tripping at around 4:30 a.m.

They believe that the python, which was found hanging on a high tension tower, caused the power outage.

The creature was brought to the Wildlife Parks in Quezon City for treatment of wounds it sustained at the tower.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/12/28/09/python-causes-power-outage-para%C3%B1aque

THE STAR (Pretoria, S Africa) 28 December 09 Snakeman on receiving end of Beauty's ugly side (Hanti Otto)

Three months after snakeman "Nutty Natie" Swart returned to an enclosure of venomous snakes - he had to leave when he was rushed to hospital after being bitten by a puff adder - a snouted cobra sank her fangs into the very same foot.

On Sunday, Swart had just woken up to day 65 of his 121-day attempt to conquer the Guinness world record of living with 40 venomous snakes at the Chameleon Village Reptile and Conservation Park at Hartbeespoort Dam, when he stepped on Beauty.

In September, he was bitten on his right foot by a puff adder on day 37 of the record attempt. He spent more than a week in hospital and almost lost a toe.

But he returned to the 20 square metre enclosure as quickly as he could, hobbling around on crutches until three weeks ago.

"Since that freak accident with the puff adder, Delilah, I have been watching the puff adders carefully. So, as I got off the bed, checking where the puff adders were, I did not realise that Beauty had slithered underneath the bed. I stepped right on the poor thing's back," he said.

The cobra retaliated and a fang penetrated his right foot.

Swart said he had been bitten by cobras many times before and was "sort of immune" to their venom.

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5297633

STAR-TELEGRAM (Fort Worth, Texas) 28 December 09 PETA worker neglected job, attorney says (Susan Schrock)

Arlington: Attorneys for U.S. Global Exotics accused an employee Monday of intentionally neglecting animals at the north Arlington business to further his agenda as an undercover investigator for the animal-welfare group PETA.

Lance Evans, an attorney representing owners Jasen and Vanessa Shaw, said Howard Goldman, who was working for PETA, could have done more to provide food, water and care for the animals that he said were being mistreated.

Instead, he chose to secretly take photos and make daily reports to send to PETA, the attorney said. Evans also pointed out that Goldman had never contacted federal, state or local authorities about his concerns during his seven months there.

"He was more concerned about helping PETA achieve its goal of putting U.S. Global out of business than actually aiding any animals that he felt were in distress," said Evans, who added that Goldman investigated the company without a license, a violation of state law.

The company is battling to regain custody of more than 26,000 animals seized by the city Dec. 15 after Goldman turned over evidence outlining what he described as animal cruelty at the Internet-based animal wholesaler’s facility.

An Arlington Municipal Court judge is expected to decide custody of the animals this week.

Goldman testified last week that he had conducted other undercover investigations for animal welfare groups and had been asked by PETA to apply for a job at U.S. Global Exotics to investigate conditions at its Arlington facility. PETA paid him $135 for each day he turned in a report while working at the firm as snake caretaker.

Evans questioned Goldman on why he did not follow a posted list of duties in the snake room and let snakes go for weeks without food or water or clean cages, as he had testified.

Goldman said he did everything he could for the animals but that the owners would not pay for the food, medical care and other supplies he requested. He said 1,500 to 3,000 snakes were under his care at any given time.

"We never had the proper amount of food. The snakes would go two or three weeks without even being offered food," Goldman said. "There were days I found hundreds of snakes dead."

Paul Boiko, another U.S. Global employee, testified Monday that most animals were fed and watered regularly and that a veterinarian visited the business once a week.

He acknowledged that some animals were not fed before being packaged to avoid problems during shipping. Certain animals, such as turtles and iguanas, were kept in cold conditions to force hibernation so they wouldn’t eat or move much, a practice he said he is standard in the industry.

Linda Frank, an attorney for the city of Arlington, questioned Boiko about whether other reported practices at the business were humane. Boiko testified that he had packaged more than 400 iguanas on Dec. 2 to be shipped to Egypt and had left them in their crates for about two weeks without food or water, waiting for the order to go through.

The order was eventually canceled Dec. 14 and, when animal welfare officers opened the crates during the raid Dec. 15, they found more than half of the animals had died.

It was the Shaws’ decision to leave the animals in the crates, Boiko said.

Boiko was also asked by the city about the company’s standard form of euthanasia, which reportedly involved putting sick or injured animals in a freezer.

"Do you think it’s humane to put animals in the freezer to die?" Frank asked him.

"If I had no other option," Boiko said. "What do you want me to do, to step on their heads?"

U.S. Global, which is closed, provided animals primarily to pet stores but had also done business with zoos in Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio and Nashville, said Boiko, who has worked for the company about six years.

Boiko testified that he found it suspicious that the city raided the company early in the morning, before employees had time to clean the cages or do their regular shopping for food.

Animal welfare officers reported finding only a few boxes of crickets, a bag of carrots and some moldy lettuce to feed more than 26,000 animals at the business.

Update: On Tuesday morning, Municipal Court Judge Michael Smith admonished attorneys for U.S. Global Exotics for attempting to have the city’s key witness in the case arrested.

A private investigator working for attorney Lance Evans called 911 on Monday from the court to report that former employee Howard Goldman had admitted under oath that he was operating as a private investigator without a license, a violation of state law.

Goldman has testified that he was secretly investigating animal cruelty on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals during his seven months of employment at the north Arlington exotic animal wholesaler.

Officers arrived at the court to investigate the report but Goldman was not arrested.

Evans, who represents U.S. Global owners Jasen and Vanessa Shaw, declined to comment Tuesday morning on the incident.

The Shaws are battling to regain custody of more than 26,000 animals seized by the city Dec. 15 as part of an ongoing animal cruelty investigation.

Linda Frank, an attorney for the city of Arlington, said she was disappointed that U.S. Global’s attorneys would attempt to have a witness arrested to gain an edge during the civil hearing, which is now in its fifth day of testimony.

Smith is expected to decide custody of the animals, mostly reptiles, this week.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1857213-p2.html

DEUTSCHER DEPESCHENDIENST (Berlin, Germany) 28 December 09 Herr der Reptilien

Frankfurt/Main (ddp-hes): Seinen ersten Frosch hat Rudolf Wicker gefangen, als er im Alter von vier Jahren in Überschwemmungstümpeln an der Lahn bei Limburg herumhüpfte. Als Schüler hielt er zu Hause bereits Fische, Echsen und Schlangen. «Meine Eltern haben gehofft, das würde sich irgendwann auswachsen», sagt Wicker und lacht. Heute ist der 61-Jährige Leiter des Exotariums im Frankfurter Zoo und verfügt über ein beachtliches internationales Renommee.

Für bundesweites Aufsehen sorgte vor Wochenfrist Wickers Erfolg beim Ausbrüten von Eiern der weltweit extrem seltenen Echten Karettschildkröte. Obwohl die fünf etwa walnussgroßen Eier nach dem unsachgemäßen Schmuggel durch eine Touristin schon etwas verschrumpelt waren, päppelte der Diplom-Biologe die Gelege in einem Brutkasten im Frankfurter Zoo auf. Schließlich schlüpften fünf der gefährdeten Tiere aus den Eiern.

Im Frankfurter Zoo arbeitet Wicker schon seit 30 Jahren. Angefangen hat er während seiner Studienzeit 1979 in der Pädagogischen Abteilung. Nach seiner Arbeit als Tierpfleger und Volontärassistent übernahm er 1983 die Leitung des Exotariums. «Es war katastrophal hier, ich habe nach und nach alles umgekrempelt», erinnert sich Wicker.

Nachdem sich die Bedingungen für Frösche, Schildkröten, Echsen und Schlangen gebessert hatten, stellten sich erste beachtliche Zuchterfolge ein. So gelang es dem Frankfurter Zoo als weltweit erstem, Kronenbasilisken und Nasenleguane zu züchten. Ende der 80er Jahre war eine australische Regierungskommission in Frankfurt zu Gast. «Sie waren von der Haltung unserer Tiere so angetan, dass sie uns quasi einen Persilschein für die Aufzucht von australischen Süßwasserkrokodilen ausstellten», sagt Wicker.

Heute züchtet der Frankfurter Zoo als weltweit einzige Organisation außerhalb Australiens die Reptilien vom fünften Kontinent. Dabei sind australische Süßwasserkrokodile aus Frankfurt quasi ein Exportschlager. Tierparks in San Diego, Boston, Indien und Thailand freuten sich bereits über Jungtiere aus Frankfurt.

«Das Frankfurter Exotarium ist wirklich Weltklasse und in der Kombination aus Schauterrarien und Zuchterfolgen die Nummer eins», lobt Fabian Schmidt, Kurator des Leipziger Zoos. Während seines Studiums in Frankfurt hat Schmidt seinem heutigen Kollegen Wicker zugearbeitet. «Nirgendwo kann man besser lernen als bei ihm», betont Schmidt und gesteht, dass der Zoo in Frankfurt bei der Einrichtung der Leipziger Terrarien «ein Riesenvorbild» gewesen sei.

Sein immenses Wissen über Reptilien und Amphibien hat sich Wicker größtenteils selbst beigebracht. «Seine Spezialisierung als Biologe muss man selbst vorantreiben», verrät der 61-Jährige, der auch stellvertretender Direktor des Frankfurter Zoos ist.

Wickers Neugier für Amphibien und Reptilien ist seit seinen Kindertagen geblieben. Immer wieder hat er deren Eier beobachtet und durchleuchtet, Messwerte notiert und somit im Laufe der Jahre einen reichhaltigen Erfahrungsschatz gesammelt. «Jedes Ei braucht ein bestimmtes Temperatur- und Feuchtigkeitsregime», betont der Fachmann. Tausende Reptilieneier hat Wicker mittlerweile ausgebrütet, darunter allein 60 verschiedene Schildkrötenarten.

Auch im Urlaub kann der Biologe nicht von seiner Leidenschaft lassen. Vor allem die Wüsten in Mexiko und der südlichen USA faszinieren ihn. Seine Frau - eine Biologielehrerin - teilt seine Naturverbundenheit, auch wenn sie «nicht ganz so verrückt ist, wie ich», verrät Wicker mit einem Augenzwinkern. Und so wälzt der Biologe im Urlaub Steine, jagt mit der Kamera nach seltenen Wüstenbewohnern, fängt diese auch, macht Temperaturmessungen und lässt sie wieder frei. «Ich wüsste gar nicht, was ich im Urlaub sonst machen sollte», gesteht Wicker.

http://de.news.yahoo.com/17/20091228/tsc-herr-der-reptilien-e24321a.html

TRIBUNE DI MODENA (Italy) 28 December 09 Iguane abbandonate a Castelfranco Emilia

Due iguane sono state salvate nei giorni scorsi a Castelfranco Emilia dai volontari del Centro fauna selvatica Il Pettirosso grazie alla segnalazione di un ragazzo che, dopo averle notate all’interno di un contenitore di plastica trasparente vicino a un cassonetto della spazzatura, ha immediatamente chiamato i volontari.

I due animali erano ormai allo stremo e in forte stato di ipotermia a causa del freddo. Quasi certamente sono stati abbandonati dal proprietario che ha voluto disfarsi dei due rettili, forse perché cresciuti un po’ troppo rispetto alle previsioni: l’esemplare più grande infatti è lungo quasi 40 centimetri.

Dell’episodio è stato informato il Corpo forestale dello Stato per avviare le indagini al fine di risalire ai responsabili per il reato di maltrattamenti di animali.

Ora le due iguane sono accudite dai volontari nella sede del Centro fauna in via Nonantolana 1217: stanno bene e una volta completamente ristabilite saranno trasferite in un centro specializzato in fauna esotica.

Il Centro opera sulla base di una convezione con la Provincia di Modena per il recupero e il salvataggio della fauna selvatica in difficoltà. Per le segnalazioni e richieste di intervento sono attivi 24 ore su 24 alcuni numeri telefonici: 339 8183676-339 3535192 oppure è possibile chiamare anche il servizio 118.

http://www.bologna2000.com/2009/12/28/iguane-abbandonate-a-castelfranco-emilia/

GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto, Ontario) 27 December 09 Endangered turtles to be moved to accommodate lake dredging - Biologists disagree on whether abrupt relocation will imperil Western Painted turtles (Josh Dehaas)

Burnaby is moving ahead with plans to dig endangered Western Painted turtles out of the mud beneath Burnaby Lake this winter although waking the fragile creatures from their winter naps could put them in even more danger.

The search for the endangered turtles with sonar and ground-penetrating radar will begin early next month, Enkon Environmental's Niko Zorkin said in an interview. Enkon is contracted by the city of Burnaby to administer the digging project.

Once the turtles are located, a diver will uncover them, move them gently into a cooler and then transfer them to their temporary home on the shore.

The city is relocating the turtles to clear the way for a $20-million project to dredge the lake, removing 250,000 cubic metres of mud, in part so that it can once again hold professional rowing competitions.

But the turtles will not be able to handle the rude awakening, said Ron Brooks, a biologist at the University of Guelph. Dr. Brooks co-chairs the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada that advised Ottawa to place the species on the endangered list. The committee last reviewed the species four years ago.

“This is like saying we have the last population of Whooping Cranes and we're going to move their nests,” he said, adding that the relocation plans were unprecedented.

Waking the turtles may force them to burn extra calories at a time when their metabolism has basically shut down, Dr. Brooks said. “These animals all live on the edge of death,” he said. “When they have to expend a lot of energy ... it's very costly.”

Biologist Vanessa Williams, the researcher in charge of tracking the locally endangered species, said that Burnaby Lake is the only nesting site she has seen, an indication that the 100 or so turtles may form the last viable population in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. Ms. Williams said the city should wait until spring and use trawling nets instead.

But ecologist and fellow turtle expert Robert St. Clair said he thinks the turtles will be fine. He studied Western Painted Turtles under the ice in northern B.C. and he said “they're pretty tough.”

Mr. Zorkin said he will have no trouble keeping the temperature safe. To prepare for the move, Mr. Zorkin said he has consulted with experts in the U.S. where Western Painted Turtles are considered hardy enough to keep as pets. “They'll even FedEx them there,” he added.

A two-member crew was working on Burnaby Lake last week with fish traps, testing techniques for the most efficient method for capturing the creatures. Crews began working on the lake weeks ago, Mr. Zorkin said. They have not yet found any turtles.

They were searching in the middle of the lake, where the likelihood of finding the turtles was zero, he said. The crews were using new equipment to verify the turtles were not at those spots, he said. They will be searching in more likely spots in the week beginning Jan. 4.

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said dredging was slated to begin in September, before the turtles began their winter naps. The project was halted after the provincial environment ministry required further measures to protect the turtles.

The delay may have increased the cost of the project by as much as $1-million, Mr. Corrigan said. “The ministry had already gone through all necessary documentation about our approach on wildlife in Burnaby Lake,” Mr. Corrigan said in an interview. “We were appalled, at the last minute, they put barriers in our way. … It goes beyond ridiculous.”

However, Jennifer McGuire, regional manager of environmental stewardship for the province, said Burnaby city staff were aware that further work was required after the environmental assessment was completed. The city was required to meet conditions for permits and develop a turtle management plan, she said.

Approval of the environmental assessment is not sufficient, she said. “There were other authorizations that the developer needed in order to proceed,” she said.

Under the conditions imposed in order to obtain a permit, the dredging crew are required to contact the provincial Ministry of Environment once five female turtles or a total of 10 turtles of either sex are captured, so that they can reassess the situation.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/endangered-turtles-to-be-moved-to-accommodate-lake-dredging/article1412208/

ISLAND PACKET (Bluffton, S Carolina) 27 December 09 Letter: Don't ever get close to Lowcountry's alligators

The photo of the two small girls watching an alligator swimming toward them was very cute, but I assume that the grandfather didn't know how much danger his granddaughters were in.

No one should be that close to gators, especially small children. It could have grabbed one of those precious children before the grandfather could have done anything. She most likely would not survive an attack.

I just wanted to warn grandparents and/or parents to not let their children ever get close to a gator. The gators will leap out of the water and attack. They will also stalk their prey for hours while underwater. No child or adult should be standing close to the edge of a pond where gators are known to live.

Sandra Boyd, Ridgeland

http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/letters/story/1082015.html

CCTV (Beijing, China) 27 December 09 300 kilos of smuggled snakes found in passenger coach in Xi'an (Zhang Ning)

Traffic police in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province's capital city, uncovered thirty boxes containing 300 kilos of snakes inside the cargo holding of a passenger coach during a routine road check for explosives on Friday, Shaanxi-based newspaper Chinese Business View reports.

The snakes were later confirmed by staff members from Xi'an Wildlife Management Center as a type of keeled rattlesnake, a species on the list of China's wildlife protection.

A staff member from the center said keeled rattlesnakes are agile and fierce reptiles that could pose a danger to passengers onboard. These snakes may have been captured before winter and kept for a higher price during the new-year sales.

The case involves the biggest ever illegal selling of snakes in Xi'an in recent years, according to the staff members.

Coach driver Xu Mengfei said someone stopped his bus midway, paid him 900 yuan in total (about 130 USD) to upload the unmarked boxes into the cargo holding and told him that someone else would pick up the boxes at the terminal station.

The bus was traveling from Hanzhong city of Shaanxi province via Xi'an to southeast China's Fujian province.

http://english.cctv.com/20091227/102399.shtml

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) 27 December 09 Python's Apple a day not enough to keep vet away (Peter Hawkins)

A pet python discovered it had bad taste in music after swallowing a pair of its owner's earphones, possibly confusing them with small eggs.

It might look like an advertisement for the Apple iPod, but the mishap meant the 84-gram children's python, named Pythagoras, had to have the white rubber and plastic removed by a vet.

The 60-centimetre snake tried the new dish after wrapping itself around the cords when out of the cage about seven weeks ago.

Owner Luke Nydam decided that since Pythagoras had just eaten dinner he would put it back in the cage and get the earphones, with remote control attached, later.

When Mr Nydam, who lives at Rhodes in Sydney's west, returned home from work the next day the earphones were gone and there were two distinct lumps in the snake.

"It's not something that you see everyday, is it?" Mr Nydam, 20, said. "She was looking pretty unwell, pretty fat. That's when I rang up the vet and they said, 'You better bring her in."'

Vet Alana Shrubsole-Cockwill from North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre said they caught the earphones before they entered the intestines of the three-year-old snake and surgery was not needed.

Instead, they sedated it and used a set of alligator forceps to get the earphones out.

"When it came in we named it Apple. It was pretty odd, It's often parasites, pets not eating or [animals] who have been attacked [we deal with]. I've never seen this before," Dr Shrubsole-Cockwill said. "We thought maybe the earphones smelt like ear wax or she thought it was an egg."

Pythagoras has since made a full recovery but the earphones haven't.

"I chucked them out, they looked gross and were covered in gunk," Mr Nydam said.

"I'm trying to keep her away from foreign objects now. Lucky I pulled the iPod out [that night], otherwise I would have been in big trouble."

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/pythons-apple-a-day-not-enough-to-keep-vet-away-20091226-lfms.html

NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin, Australia) 27 December 09 Exotic snakes stopped from slithering south via air freight (Nadja Hainke)

A Territorian has been busted for allegedly illegally posting two live snakes by air freight.

Parks and Wildlife Service officers seized the exotic jungle carpet pythons - which were bound for Sydney - at Darwin airport yesterday.

The non-venomous animals, which are valued at about $500 each, measured between 50cm and 1m long.

They are generally found in the Queensland rainforest.

Parks and Wildlife officers were informed about the allegedly illegal shipment about 2pm yesterday.

They immediately seized the two animals.

Senior ranger Peter Phillips said the snakes were posted in a labelled box - but failed to include proper permits.

He said Parks and Wildlife were now investigating whether the offence was deliberate.

"It's important that people understand that wildlife is protected under law and when exporting and importing protected wildlife is done illegally, people are in for a large fine and possibly imprisonment," Mr Phillips said.

"All native animals in the Northern Territory are protected and you need a permit to export or import them."

If found guilty, the sender could find himself in prison.

Darwin reptile handler Chris Peberdy hailed the efforts of the officers yesterday.

He said: "Parks and Wildlife should be commended of their actions as non-native reptiles entering the Territory without the proper permits and checks can pose potential bio-security risks to our local flora and fauna."

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/12/27/111941_ntnews.html

ABBOTSFORD NEWS (British Columbia) 26 December 09 Reptile Guy on endangered list (Rochelle Baker)

Mike Hopcraft’s living room is actually a “living” room.

Its walls are lined with terrariums, aquariums, and caged enclosures which house a veritable cornucopia of animals.

There are snapping turtles, tortoises, a multitude of lizards of various species and sizes, iguanas, four caimans, boa constrictors – the list goes on.

Hopcraft also has a separate “snake room” and a “bug room,” which is filled with tarantulas, scorpions and the insects they eat.

“There’s a few miscellaneous things in here,” he says.

“I have some leopard geckos too.”

There’s also a portly canteloupe-sized African bullfrog named Tiny Tim.

The only warm-blooded animals in the house are his dog Baxter, and Mac – a ring-tailed lemur who is territorial and so acts as guard dog.

Hopcraft, better known as the Reptile Guy, runs a small business which involves the rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption of exotic pets.

He also focuses on public education around reptiles and responsible ownership by making presentations with the animals at schools, parties, youth organizations, and even seniors homes and correctional facilities.

The money from the presentations goes to the feeding, housing and medical care of the more than 70 animals in his possession.

Most of the critters are rescues or surrenders from owners who no longer want their pets.

Reptiles of all kinds end up on Hopcraft’s doorstep much like swaddled orphans.

A couple of weeks ago he got a call from someone in Surrey who had found a neighbour’s abandoned iguana.

“He was moving and had just put it out in the yard in a cardboard box in the freezing cold,” said Hopcraft, stroking the underneath of the animal’s leathery chin.

“If it had been out there much longer, it would have gone to sleep and never woken up.”

The reptile business is definitely a labour of love.

“It does not pay the bills, I barely manage,” Hopcraft said.

However, making ends meet is the least of his problems.

New provincial regulations which tighten conditions around owning and exhibiting exotic animals come into force in April 2010, effectively putting the Reptile Guy on the endangered species list.

The changes, which regulate the ownership of dangerous

animals such as big cats, venomous and poisonous snakes and large reptiles, were made after a woman was killed by a captive tiger near 100 Mile House in 2007.

Among other things, the new legislation demands owners of exotics must apply for permits.

Hopcraft is supportive of initiatives that promote responsible ownership.

However, if he wants to continue showing his animals, he must now get accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

To do so, Hopcraft must move his animals out of his home and into a facility or warehouse, something that requires more funds than he can muster on his own.

What’s more, he expects people will abandon their animals in greater numbers than ever, rather than meet more stringent ownership requirements and doing the paperwork necessary to get the permits.

That leaves Hopcraft in a bind, because if he takes in the animals, he can no longer adopt them out with the necessary paperwork.

“I’ll have to take more animals in, and have no way to earn the money to care for them,” he says.

Hopcraft hopes to generate the revenue necessary to afford an offsite facility for his animals.

If he can, he figures he can continue to generate enough income to continue his business.

He’s looking to get some corporate sponsors and to raise funds through donations.

Despite the rapidly approaching spring deadline, he believes he’ll find a workable solution that will allow him to rescue and adopt out his beloved reptiles.

“I’ll find some way,” he says.

“I have to.”

To learn more about Hopcraft’s animals visit www.thereptileguy.ca

'Alien' Animal Regulations

The new Controlled Alien Species Regulation – in effect April 1, 2010 – controls the possession, breeding, shipping and releasing of alien animals (those not native to B.C.) that pose a risk to the health or safety of people.

Some of the animals covered include big cats, poisonous snakes, large reptiles such as boa constrictors, pythons, or caimans, and primates such as monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, and lemurs.

Everyone in possession of an “exotic” animal will need to have a permit by April 1, 2010.

There are three different type of permits: personal and pet store; non-personal permits for film animal trainers, zoos and educational or research institutions; and rescue centre permits.

Penalties for possession without a permit for a first-time offender are:

fines up to a maximum of $100,000

a term of imprisonment of one year; or both a fine and a sentence.

Under the new rules an individual owner with a permit can possess and transport an exotic animal within the province.

However, individual owners can no longer breed, release, exhibit or transfer such animals into the province.

Owners of exotic animals must still inform themselves and adhere to municipal bylaws which may be more stringent than the provincial regulations.

For an extensive list of the new rules and the animals covered visit www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlifeactreview/cas/#

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/80025157.html

BRADENTON HERALD (Florida) 26 December 09 Reptile industry sees python bill as threat (Grace Gagliano)

Bradenton: Florida Sen. Bill Nelson’s efforts to make it illegal to import and trade nine dangerous snakes, including Burmese pythons, isn’t sitting well with those in the reptile industry.

Nelson introduced the bill to target pythons, later adding species of anacondas and boa constrictors the U.S. Geological Survey considers dangerous. The bill’s intent, he has said, is to protect U.S. wildlife and natural resources, as well as to address the concern over pet snakes being released in the Everglades.

But reptile breeders and sellers argue that the bill will severely impact their business.

Myakka City resident David Barkasy predicts it will cause his reptile wholesale business to decline. Barkasy’s company, Silver City Serpentarium Inc., is a wholesaler of pythons, boa constrictors and other reptiles to distributors, pet shops and breeders.

Barkasy estimates pythons make up 6 percent of sales at Silver City Serpentarium, and boa constrictors make up 4 percent of his company’s sales.

“Seeing that we’re down 25 percent for the year because of the recession, you add another 6 to 10 percent and that’s a lot of money,” said Barkasy, who said he averages about $300,000 in annual sales. “Everything in that stock we wouldn’t be able to sell. It would either be euthanized or kept until it died of old age.”

Susie Perez Quinn, a legislative aide to Nelson, said the cost to the environment outweighs the impact to the reptile industry.

“If you take the impact on the environment and the impact to taxpayers and the millions that will be spent to restore an ecosystem like the Everglades, you can’t compare the two,” Perez Quinn said.

The bill cleared a Senate panel Dec. 10, setting it up for a full Senate vote.

Nelson wrote the bill after federal park officials raised concern over pet owners releasing the pythons and other species in the Everglades.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates Burmese pythons, which can grow to 20 feet long and 200 pounds, have a population in the tens of thousands in South Florida.

“As stewards of our country’s vast public lands and natural resources, we have to deal with the threats posed by invasive species,” Nelson said in a statement.

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida says the bill will help protect endangered species in South Florida.

“All these snakes that are being released in the Everglades are reproducing in the Everglades and they’re catching and killing a lot of the endangered species that do live and belong there,” said Don Anthony, spokesman for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida.

Anthony said the bill also will prevent the dangerous snakes from ending up with irresponsible pet owners.

In July, a 2-year-old girl in Sumter County was killed in her crib when an 8-foot Burmese python escaped from its glass container and strangled her. Anthony said the python bill could help prevent such incidents in the future.

“What kind of life is it for a huge snake like that to live in a little glass box?” Anthony said.

“These are wild and exotic animals that belong in their natural habitat.”

At Bayshore Pets in Bradenton, the pet shop’s reptile handler Mike Smith said the bill will impact out-of-state boa constrictor sales.

“It would negatively impact us,” Smith said. “I would be upset about that if that snake is included on the ban. It’s a popular exotic snake.”

The U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers says Bill S373 will “destroy” the reptile industry if it is passed. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., has filed a snake bill similar to Nelson’s in the U.S. House, which went through subcommittee hearings Nov. 6.

“It’s going to destroy about one-third of the reptile industry, which is about a $3 billion a year industry,” said Andrew Wyatt, president of the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers, a North Carolina-based trade group with about 12,000 members nationwide.

“This bill doesn’t even address the issue of Burmese pythons in the Everglades. It’s not addressing the issues of feral pythons in the Everglades.”

Reptile breeder Michael Cole, owner of Ballroom Pythons South in Central Florida, estimates the bill will cost his business $250,000 a year if it passes. In addition, Cole said he fears the bill will cause more people to release the pythons and other snakes.

“If you can’t sell the animals you can produce,” Cole said, “then you can’t do anything with them.”

http://www.bradenton.com/847/story/1938034.html

SUN-SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 26 December 09 Florida needs to get serious about pythons (Don Anthony is communications director of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida)

A new billboard campaign declaring "Unwanted in the Everglades," shows a picture of a giant Burmese python or an enormous Nile monitor lizard. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission extends amnesty for people who want to surrender large reptiles they cannot care for, and a year-round python hunt begins next year.

These are attempts to combat the equally huge problem of dangerous, non-native "reptiles of concern" released in the Everglades. But they are far from sufficient to solve the problem.

Burmese pythons and other fast-growing, easily-adapting reptiles of concern are not native to Florida. They are shipped in from Southeast Asia and other parts of the world as pets, and when they inevitably escape or are released, they reproduce and prey on indigenous, endangered animals in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world: the Everglades. Here they make their new home, and kill bobcats, ibises, panthers and others.

Of course, it's not their fault. They should never have been shipped to Florida in the first place. And if they don't escape, they're doomed to live in a glass box in somebody's den for the rest of their lives.

Over the last few months, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued permits for the hunting and killing of Burmese pythons in and around the Everglades. A total of 37 were removed and killed. But the problem persists because thousands more continue to reproduce in the Everglades. Even more are still being sold, to this very day, by breeders and pet shops.

Having a roundup-and-slaughter program in operation while more of these very same snakes are being sold by breeders and pet shops is equivalent to attempting to drain a swimming pool while simultaneously pumping in more water with a fire hose. It could go on forever without accomplishing anything.

If we are serious about protecting the Everglades and the animals that belong there, we need to make it illegal to import, sell and breed these non-native reptiles. The FWC wants "more education" and the use of microchips in snakes. But the only way to be assured that no more Burmese pythons or other non-natives threaten the environment is to cut off the source, and not allow any more into the United States. State Sen. Eleanor Sobel, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek are supporting laws to accomplish this, and we should support them.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/commentary/fl-pythons-forum-1226-20091223,0,2937527.story.

TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 26 December 09 Designer homes for snakes at zoo open for visitors (Kumar Manish)

Ahmedabad: The snakes may not be able to tell if they like their new designer homes much but section has definitely turned from an eyesore to a visual treat for visitors at Kamla Nehru Zoo in Kankaria. Innovative information panels designed by graduates of National Institute of Design (NID) are also a good replacement to the rectangular panels that were illegible and displayed poor information about the snakes housed here.

The new panels have basic information about snakes like, their food habits, habitats, and scientific taxonomy. The other set of panels contain general information on snakes including how they sense the world around them, how they move, and how they feed. These panels are displayed in front of the 17 separate enclosures which will house different species of snake.

Designed by Naman Thakar and Preet Thakkar, the enclosure were made accessible for public on Friday.

On the new panels, zoo superintendent, RK Sahu, says, "This time the information displayed about different species of snakes in several languages. We have visitors from across the country and abroad too, we have put the information in different languages like Hindi, English and Gujarati."

The enclosures are spruced up with better graphic, information and navigation systems. Naman says, "In India, one hardly sees the principles of graphic and information design applied anywhere in the public places. Zoos have lakhs of visitors coming annually and it's purpose is not only to sensitise the public about wildlife but also imparting a range of information on these captivated animals." The duo researched on the graphics currently displayed at the Melbourne Zoo, Australia and the famous London Zoo. Preet says, "We are trying to break free from the standard rectangular panel format and applying modular approach."

"The challenge here is to make the information relevant and easy to understand keeping in mind the profile of people coming to such places," he adds.

The newly designed snake enclosures got rave views from the representatives of central zoo authority. Architect of the designer home and snake lover, Rishit Shroff, says, "Disseminating right information in a visitor friendly way is an integral part of the whole project. The information about the snakes will be balanced using text and relevant visual."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Designer-homes-for-snakes-at-zoo-open-for-visitors/articleshow/5379255.cms

BBC (London, UK) 26 December 09 Police appeal in effort to trace stolen snakes

Officers trying to find two tropical snakes stolen in a raid on the Isle of Wight have issued a fresh appeal.

The flying tree snakes were removed from a locked vivarium inside a building at Northwood Business Park near Cowes between 25 and 28 November.

Pc John Davis said: "Several lines of inquiries have been followed in recent weeks, but the whereabouts of these snakes is yet to be confirmed."

They are "mildly venomous" and bites need medical advice and attention.

Pc Davis added: "Flying tree snakes are very rare, making it possible that someone may have noticed them or heard about someone trying to sell them."

He described the snakes as having bright green and black chequered skin with white chins.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: "The owners have told police these snakes are mildly venomous, but are not known for aggressive behaviour.

"However, anyone without proper knowledge of handling them could receive a snake bite, and would be advised to seek immediate medical advice and attention as a precaution.

"The NHS advises that if you are bitten by an exotic snake in the UK, you should dial 999 to request an ambulance."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8430989.stm

GLOBAL TIMES (Beijing, China) 25 December 09 Beijing restaurants selling illegal alligator (Song Yuanyuan)

Two restaurants were found illegally selling alligator, giant salamander and sturgeon by the Beijing Fishing Supervision and Administration Station (BFSAS) on Thursday.

Alligator, giant salamander and sturgeon are under national second-class protection, according to Chinese wildlife law.

Upon receiving public tip-offs, BFSAS along with police conducted an inspection on the two restaurants. One of them is located in Haidian district, selling a 12-kilogram alligator priced at 336 yuan ($49.34) per kilogram and two giant salamanders for 3,360 yuan ($493.39) per kilogram. The other is located in Xicheng district and was found to be selling Siberian sturgeon.

"Neither of the two restaurants have a permit to sell those fish. We do not know where they got these animals from," an official surnamed He from the BFSAS told the Global Times.

According to He, these animals are not prohibited from being sold because husbandry has greatly increased their numbers. Those who sell them must apply for permits issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and pay wildlife protection fees to the agricultural bureau regularly. The more they sell, the higher the fees.

The BFSAS have seized all the fish and plans to investigate further. According to wildlife business regulations, the illegal sale, purchase or transport of second-class protected animals carries a fine of ten times the animal's value, and in more serious cases, it may even be considered a felony.

Qin Huina, chairman of the Capital Animal Welfare Association, is calling for a more aggressive protection of China's wildlife. "I am opposed to eating any kind of wild animals. Some can even cause diseases. Breeding should only be used for the purpose of better protection, not for commercial use. The government should legislate a prohibition on selling wild animals, including those raised on farms. Issuing per-mits for legal sales is very likely to lead to a loophole," Qin told the Global Times.

He Yong, division director of the media center from the International Fund for Animal Welfare in China also strongly opposes the sale of wild animals in any way.

"There are quite a few loopholes in wildlife protection laws in China. To preserve ecological diversity, laws should be made to prohibit any kind of use of wild animals," said He.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/update/society/2009-12/494343.html

DAILY ECHO (Southampton, UK) 25 December 09 Rare flying tree snakes stolen in burglary

Police last night issued a new appeal to find two rare stolen snakes.

The flying tree snakes were taken from a locked vivarium, which was inside a building on the Isle of Wight.

The rare snakes, which are venomous, were taken from Northwood Business Park near Cowes.

Investigating officer, PC John Davis said: “Several lines of enquiries have been followed, but the whereabouts of these snakes is yet to be confirmed.

“Flying tree snakes are very rare, making it possible that someone may have noticed them or heard about someone trying to sell them.”

The snakes are described as having bright green and black chequered skin with white chins.

The owners have told police these snakes are mildly venomous, but are not known for aggressive behaviour.

However, anyone without proper knowledge of handling them could receive a snake bite, and would be advised to seek immediate medical advice and attention as a precaution.

It is believed the snakes were stolen sometime between Wednesday, November 25 and Saturday, November 28, 2009.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4821174.Hunt_launched_for_stolen_poisonous_snakes/

THE AGE (Melbourne, Australia) 25 December 09 Police arrest sunbaking snake at South Melbourne

(AAP) Police have taken a slippery character into custody after making an unusual Christmas Day arrest.

Officers picked up a one-metre long tiger snake found sunbaking near the South Melbourne Life Saving Club on South Melbourne beach after being called to the scene at about 8.30am today.

‘‘When the officers went to investigate, they found the one-metre long snake enjoying the early morning sun,’’ police said in a statement.

Police Senior Constable Paul McNulty said he thought the snake ‘‘may have been waiting there overnight to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus’’.

‘‘The slippery offender was caught safely and taken back to the South Melbourne police station where a snake catcher was called.’’

http://www.theage.com.au/national/police-arrest-sunbaking-snake-at-south-melbourne-20091225-leuq.html

TIMES UNION (Albany, New York) 24 December 09 Four men arraigned in turtle killing case (Robert Gavin)

Albany: Two sets of siblings who allegedly tortured a turtle in Knox -- killing the reptile in an explosion captured on videotape -- were arraigned Wednesday on felony weapon and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges in Albany County Court.

Jeffrey Robert, who turned 24 Wednesday, is charged in an eight-count indictment along with his brother, Michael Robert, 22, Tyson Pincher, 26, and his brother, Seth Pincher, 17, all of Knox.

Authorities say the defendants tortured the snapping turtle on Knox-Cave Road on March 1, then attached a pipe bomb to its back and watched the reptile explode.

A person with knowledge of the case said they nicknamed the animal "Victim." And police have earlier said the group asked at one point, "Do you think he knows he's about to die?"

The alleged abusers were rounded up in September as Albany County Sheriff's Department investigators searched the house of Jeffrey Robert, a suspect in an Internet scam case. The police found a videotape showing the turtle torture.

At the time, police said the suspects had been experimenting with different explosives and downloaded information about chemical bomb-making on the Internet.

As the defendants waited for their appearances before acting Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont, the Roberts brothers sat near one another in the gallery -- at times flashing smiles. The pair face up to seven years in state prison on charges of third-degree weapon possession, conspiracy and torturing an animal.

The Pincher brothers face up to 14 years in prison because they allegedly possessed three more bombs that police found on Sept. 18.

All four pleaded not guilty.

Terence L. Kindlon, who represented the Pincher brothers at the arraignment, questioned whether the alleged explosives were bombs or firecrackers.

If the latter, he noted, it would be a fireworks misdemeanor case instead of a violent felony case that cannot be pleaded down without prison time.

"It is just really overreaching on the part of the D.A.'s office," said Kindlon, calling the indictment "overcharged, reckless and thoughtless," as well as "close to being insane."

In response, District Attorney David Soares issued a statement reading: "These young men are presumed innocent and Mr. Kindlon will have an opportunity to make his argument to a jury. As for this offices' decision to indict cases like this one? it's very simple: The idea of young men searching the Internet for instructions for building explosives and then constructing them is unsettling. The gall to then kill a small animal is cowardly and criminal."

The defendants are all free on bail.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=881525#ixzz0bQ5rOAIT

PARIS NORMANDIE (Paris, France) 24 December 09 Un serpent au pied du sapin! (Franck Boitel)

Ce n'est pas forcément le genre de cadeau que l'on s'attend à trouver, plié sous sa serviette à la table du réveillon. Pourtant, les ventes de reptiles, lézards et tortues, ces nouveaux animaux de compagnie (NAC) qui suscitent depuis quelques années un engouement croissant, progressent sensiblement avant les fêtes de fin d'année. «Elles augmentent d'environ 20%», estime Cédric Rabaud, qui a ouvert en 2005 un magasin spécialisé à Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Ophidia, dans lequel il reçoit beaucoup d'amateurs passionnés et quelques autres aux motivations moins claires.

«Je pose toujours quelques questions: le bénéficiaire de ce cadeau est-il au courant? Etes-vous sûr de l'espèce recherchée? Avez-vous mesuré les contraintes? Je rappelle que ce n'est pas un jouet et qu'on ne peut pas l'échanger», explique-t-il. «D'ailleurs, lorsque la demande est trop farfelue ou carrément malsaine, je préfère refuser la vente: il m'est arrivé de devoir raisonner des jeunes qui s'étaient cotisés pour offrir un serpent à un copain, sachant qu'il en avait horriblement peur, et de mettre à la porte un type visiblement drogué jusqu'aux yeux qui était entré dans ma boutique en réclamant un cobra! Un jour, j'ai vu arriver un garçon qui avait traversé l'agglomération en bus avec un serpent autour du cou. Puis un autre qui se baladait avec un iguane sur l'épaule. Ces gens-là donnent une mauvaise image du milieu…»

«C'est vrai. Ce qui fait que nous sommes parfois confrontés à des regards bizarres», témoignent Cyrielle et Quentin, 23 et 19 ans, étudiants en biologie et propriétaires de trois pythons régius, un pogona de Lawson et un varan exanthematicus. «Le pogona nous a été donné par un ami qui voulait s'en débarrasser. Il l'avait laissé sans soin. On le prenait. Ou il mourait».

Parmi les quelques milliers de possesseurs de NAC de la région Haute-Normandie, Cédric Rabaud juge que «10% font n'importe quoi». Il ne s'agit pas seulement de néophytes, qui se trompent par incompétence, par manque de moyens, ou qui cherchent à se séparer d'un animal dont ils n'imaginaient pas qu'il atteindrait une taille aussi imposante. Cela peut être aussi des éleveurs peu scrupuleux, chez qui l'appât du gain est venu supplanter la passion initiale. «Certains s'essaient à la création d'hybrides et au mélange d'espèces venimeuses. Il y a là un réel danger», prévient le spécialiste.

Appelé régulièrement par les sapeurs-pompiers pour récupérer et prendre en charge des NAC égarés, tel cet iguane de belle taille capturé sur un toit, Cédric Rabaud connaît son sujet. «J'ai déjà été contacté par les locataires d'un appartement à Rouen ne sachant pas comment se débarrasser d'un caïman à lunettes qui avait, évidemment, beaucoup grossi. Un huissier a fait aussi appel à moi pour capturer un python découvert chez un mauvais payeur qui venait d'être expulsé. Cela démontre qu'il existe ici aussi, en Haute-Normandie, un trafic de reptiles et d'animaux dangereux. D'ailleurs, il suffit d'aller à l'étranger, en Allemagne ou aux Pays-Bas, pour acquérir des serpents, mygales, scorpions, à l'occasion de forums ou de bourses d'échanges. On leur fait ensuite passer la frontière sous le manteau. Tout cela est extrêmement dangereux!» Et très éloigné, sans doute, de la magie de Noël…

http://www.paris-normandie.fr/index.php/cms/13/article/279780/Un_serpent_au_pied_du_sapin__

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 17 December 09 Fears cane toads have hitched to E Timor (Adrienne Francis)

There are renewed concerns that one of Australia's worst exotic pests may have hitchhiked to East Timor.

In September, a Timorese environmental group accused Australian peacekeepers of introducing cane toads during operations in 1999.

However, it was later proved to be a case of mistaken identity.

Darwin resident Rob Wesley-Smith says a number of suspicious-looking, large, yellow toads have been spotted again on the south coast of East Timor.

"I have been told that they definitely have poison sacks on their shoulders," he said.

"That is a very telling sort of identifying thing.

He said supplies have previously been delivered from Darwin to the Natarbora region in East Timor, making it possible for cane toads to have accidentally been taken there.

Mr Wesley-Smith is travelling to East Timor to examine the suspicious-looking toads.

"If in fact there are cane toads there then I think the important thing is to alert people to what they look like, what you can do to get rid of them," he said.

"And we will try and get people off their butts and go out and do some night time hunting and get rid of them."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/17/2774345.htm

BURNABY NOW (British Columbia) 16 December 09 Ecojustice questions turtle moving plan (Jennifer Moreau)

An environmental group is raising concerns about the city's plan to possibly move hibernating endangered turtles while dredging Burnaby Lake.

"Our main concern is (with) moving overwintering endangered turtles in a way that's never been tried before, exposing them to temperature variations that could cause stress (and) could lead to mortality," said Judah Harrison, a lawyer with Ecojustice, a non-profit environmental law group, formerly known as the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.

Harrison was referring to the latest developments around the City of Burnaby's dredging plans to restore a rowing course and keep the lake from filling with sediment. The project, which was supposed to start Sept. 23, was stopped dead in its tracks when the Environment Ministry refused a Wildlife Act permit over concerns about the endangered Western painted turtle. Possibly the largest regional population of the turtles makes its home in Burnaby Lake, and they burrow beneath the mud while hibernating. No one knew where they were going to settle this year, and biologists were concerned the dredging would kill them.

As a result, the city is now using radar and sonar to find the turtles before dredging. If there is a big group, they can't dredge, but if they find a lone turtle, for example, they can move it.

"That's never been done before," Harrison said. "I've never heard of an endangered species being found and moved and transported during its hibernation period."

The plan is the city will wrap up its final round of radar and sonar work as soon as the ice starts melting on the lake. Enkon Environmental is the city-hired consulting group handling the turtles.

The Environment Ministry's Jennifer McGuire is the one who signed the remaining Wildlife Act permit needed for the project to proceed. When asked if she was confident that the project could go ahead without harming the turtles, she replied that the permit would not have been issued otherwise.

There are two approaches, McGuire explained. First and foremost, the consultants have to find where the turtles are. If they are hibernating in clusters, they have to avoid that area, but if they find a lone turtle, for example, they can collect it and keep it in a turtle rehab facility, she said.

The turtle would then be released later. There are conditions in the salvage permit, and there is a procedure that Enkon has come up with that will minimize disturbance to the turtles, she said. There are monitoring provisions too - every time they come across a turtle, they need to notify the ministry, she added.

"The plan that the city has put forward is definitely an innovative approach and has provided the ministry with sufficient confidence that they will be able to locate the turtles and handle them safely and release them in the spring," McGuire said.

However, Harrison said his organization would be looking into legal avenues to challenge the project.

http://www2.canada.com/burnabynow/news/story.html?id=fcb4f59a-3440-4ffa-ae2d-99930ac5cef5

NEWS TRIBUNE (Duluth, Minnesota) 10 December 09 Turtles seen under ice a finale to a great year - With a cooling October, it looked like to I had seen the last of the turtles for the year. But recently I was treated to quite a finale. (Larry Weber)

As we move through the month of December, we note days of early sunsets and ever-later sunrises. With the winter solstice soon upon us, we experience the cold and snow attributed to this season as well. December is also the last calendar month of the year, so we often take time to look back over the year.

This year has been full of natural happenings — as they all are — and I have had many interesting and varied sights and sounds of nature that I remember. Reflecting on 2009, I enjoyed many encounters with Northland wildlife, but maybe it was the turtles that gave some of the best for the year.

Since they winter on the bottom of a nearby lake, I did not even see any of these shelled reptiles until shortly after ice-out. It was a mild day in late April when I saw a couple of painted turtles swimming to the surface for a breath of fresh air — after going a winter without it. Soon our weather warmed and May gave us pleasant days, some even hot (the highest temperature recorded in the region for all of 2009 happened in May).

Swimming in the chilly waters of spring, turtles are quick to climb up on logs to bask. On these spring days, I watched a log get crowded with these sun worshipers. In tight constriction, this log, 40 feet long, squeezed in 80 painted turtles at one time on a warm May day.

In June, egg laying became priority No. 1 for these turtles. One morning in the middle of the month, I came upon a large snapping turtle as she was depositing her clutch of about 30 eggs along a roadside. She had climbed up from a swamp to place the eggs there.

It looked like a poor choice to me, but the road shoulder was easy to dig in.

As summer unfolded, I saw turtles less frequently, usually only as they swam in the lake. During this time, the buried turtle eggs absorb the warmth of the sunlight in the adjacent soil and they grow. It takes about three months for the embryo to develop and the baby turtles to hatch.

Though I did not witness the hatching of the snapping turtles that I observed being laid as eggs along my road, I did see an outstanding emergence elsewhere: I was present in late September when a group of us observed many tiny snapping turtles as they crawled from another subterranean home.

We watched in amazement as about 70 young ones worked their way out of a nest and scampered to a nearby lake. These eggs were also deposited in mid-June, 100 days before.

Through autumn, I saw only a scattering of turtles. With a cooling October, it looked like to I had seen the last of them for the year. But recently I was treated to quite a finale.

In late November, I visited a lake to check the ice conditions. Sub-freezing temperatures had given us a covering, though it was still unsafe for traffic. As I peered through this clear cold coating, I saw movement. Here was a painted turtle swimming in the chilly water below. The critter moved about in the shallows before going deeper. The next day, Dec. 1, I saw another in such activity. Apparently the turtles had not yet settled into a site for the long winter, or maybe they were looking for a meal before slowing down. But, to me, they gave a marvelous finale to this year of great turtle sights.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/154407/group/budgeteer/

NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin, Australia) 19 November 09 'Moron trap' lures plenty of tourists (Rebekah Cavanagh)

Another photo has emerged of more "idiots" risking life and limb by larking about atop a crocodile trap in the Territory.

These bikini-clad ladies were spotted singing in the rain, using champagne bottles as microphones, while standing on a croc trap in a crocodile-infested river in Maningrida.

Their mates were in a fishing boat several metres away taking photos.

The image, taken at the weekend, surfaced yesterday - a day after the Northern Territory News published a picture on the front page of two male tourists tempting fate by doing a similar thing at Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park.

The hooligans were laughing and joking as they posed as cowboys riding atop the trap.

Park ranger and crocodile expert Garry Lindner said the behaviour of the men was absurd.

"Crocs are attracted to the bait in the traps, so it is extremely dangerous to fool around like this," he said.

Readers from across the nation were outraged over Tuesday's story, which was viewed by thousands on national news website www.news.com.au

One reader suggested the photo caption should have read: "Dinner is served! Tonight's menu features two courses of stupid."

And another browser said: "I don't know about a croc trap but it certainly works as a moron trap."

Other comments included "The Darwin Awards were invented because of people like this!" and "What dopes! And people wonder why they get eaten alive?".

Another reader posted: "Darn, they escaped again. Who is responsible for not securing the bait correctly?"

And an Alice Springs man said: "I would have expected that nearly all people would have the brains not to climb on a croc trap. I know this area, and although there's only a small chance of actually having crocs in there at this time of year, it's not unheard of."

But not all agreed it was a dangerous act and some actually praised the men.

"Way to go! I'd do it if I was there too," a reader posted online. "Great fun it looks like. Should be more of it."

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/11/19/102191_ntnews.html