Concerned that the headline-grabbing news of nonnative giant snakes invading Florida's Everglades and possibly more of the U.S. is becoming politcized and ignoring science, the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) is speaking out.

Several people have written to NatGeo News Watch in response to our early posts, Congress weighs ban on importation of pet pythons and Nine giant invasive snake species threaten U.S. ecosystems, pointing out that the people who know most about boas and pythons, the pet reptile owners and traders, have different perspectives about what's needed to prevent and reverse the problem of the snakes breeding in the wild.

Written testimony handed to the U.S. Congress last week by Andrew Wyatt, president of USARK, presents the analysis of the reptile industry, which he says is not only opposed to releasing the animals into the American wilderness but is promoting ownership accreditation, teaching best practices, and helping to extract alien snakes already established in the wild

Responsible ownership and trade

"USARK represents the highly sophisticated commercial production of captive bred reptiles in the United States. We are a science and education based advocacy for the responsible private ownership of, and trade in reptiles. USARK endorses caging standards, sound husbandry, escape prevention protocols, and an integrated approach to vital conservation issues," Wyatt said in his testimony.

"The health of these animals, public safety, and maintaining ecological integrity are our primary concerns."

"Our goal is to facilitate cooperation between government agencies, the scientific community, and the private sector in order to produce policy proposals that will effectively address important husbandry and conservation issues. The health of these animals, public safety, and maintaining ecological integrity are our primary concerns.

"Over the past 60 years, the practice of keeping reptiles has changed from an obscure hobby to an incredibly widespread and mainstream part of the American experience. Reptiles have become intensely popular and are now present in millions of American households (1 in every 25 U.S. households has 1 or more reptiles). They now permeate pop culture, movies and advertising. Who doesn't know the Geico Gecko?"

U.S.$3 billion industry

From early beginnings in the pet trade, herpetoculture, the practice of breeding reptiles and amphibians, has grown into a sophisticated and independent $3 billion annual industry, Wyatt said.

"Herpetoculturists produce high quality captive bred animals for collectors, research, zoos, museums, TV & film...These animals can be valued at over $100,000 for individual specimens.

"Millions of dollars flow into the national economy from the reptile industry. It is interlaced and interconnected with all levels of economies. Purchases of equipment, dry goods, bedding and cages channel money into U.S. manufacturing.

"Millions of dollars go to support American agriculture with purchases of food, including rodents, grain, bedding, vegetables and prepared diets. Millions of dollars more support airlines and parcel shippers."

The reptile industry in the United States accounts for 82 percent of the worldwide export and trade in high quality captive bred reptiles, Wyatt added. Thousands of American small businesses and their employees depend on
the industry.

Reptile Nation

"Reptiles are an animal interest that have captivated an incredibly diverse cross section of the American demographics; from scientists to school children, Wall Street bankers to construction workers, conservationists, attorneys, teachers, rock stars, actors and even politicians.

"Your friends and neighbors keep reptiles. Some member of your family keeps, or has kept, reptiles. Collectively we refer to this demographic as the Reptile Nation, comprising more than five million Americans. All are intensely interested in protecting their legal rights to possess and work with reptiles."

USARK is concerned about feral Burmese pythons in the Everglades and the impact they could potentially have on the ecosystem of South Florida, Wyatt said. "We recognize the problem and have committed to be part of the solution."

Python removal program

USARK members helped create a python removal program in coordination with Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and were the first to be licensed to remove pythons from state lands in South Florida, Wyatt said.

"USARK has actively appealed to the U.S. Department of the Interior to open up Everglades National Park to a removal program modeled on the Florida program.

"We do not believe captured pythons should be re-released back into the Park for any reason."

USARK has offered $10,000 to United States Fish & Wildlife Service to establish the basis of a program to get pythons out of Florida and into qualified hands that can securely and humanely house them for the rest of their natural lives, Wyatt said.

"The federal government has failed to capitalize on this vast pool of knowledge and experience to most effectively address the issue of feral Burmese pythons in the Everglades National Park and South Florida."

"USARK has great expertise in regards to pythons; how to find them, where to find them, reproductive behaviors, predation, safe secure maintenance in captivity... etc. Unfortunately, in our view, the federal government has failed to capitalize on this vast pool of knowledge and experience to most effectively address the issue of feral Burmese pythons in the Everglades National Park and South Florida."

Beyond the invasiveness of the Burmese python, USARK fears that the issue is becoming "overly politicized and media-driven, thus creating a situation where we've selectively interpreted the available science," Wyatt said.

The issue isn't especially wellknown, and thus it lends itself to misinformation and over-generalizations, he added.

Danger to humans 'grossly overstated'

"The physical danger posed by pythons toward humans has simply been grossly overstated. Even in their native range of Southeast Asia, where human population densities far exceed that of South Florida, deaths attributed to pythons are extremely rare.

"As a general matter, pythons have never posed a real threat to humans. That's not to say, however, they make the best family pet in every case, or that they cannot pose a threat when best handling practices are not followed or existing laws designed to ensure responsible ownership are ignored. Only that they are not the dangerous killers portrayed by activists in the media."

USARK estimates that today there are over four million boas and pythons in captivity in the United States, representing about $1.6 billion in asset value and $1.8 billion in annual revenues. Of these in captivity today, 100,000 are Burmese pythons or African pythons.

USARK will continue to work on shifting the ongoing debate over these species toward policy resolutions based upon complete and solid science, Wyatt said. "The utmost of care should be taken in any attempt to manage the captive and feral populations. If mistakes are made, problems will only be compounded.

"Simply legislating animals onto the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act will not accomplish HR 2811's stated intent. Rather, it will destroy the most valuable resource capable of effectively managing the millions of animals already here. If you reduce the value of these animals to zero and destroy the livelihoods of those most qualified to deal with the secure disposition of all of these animals, where will that leave us?

"Best management practices and professional standards specific to certain reptiles is what is needed, not draconian measures that will only succeed in destroying a viable industry."

"USARK has been developing and employing best handling practices and accreditation for many years and welcomes a more in-depth discussion in this regard with Congressional and administration officials. It is our belief that best management practices and professional standards specific to certain reptiles is what is needed, not draconian measures that will only succeed in destroying a viable industry.

Captivity as conservation

"Not only is the reptile industry a viable component of the American economy, but we have made an unparalleled contribution to conservation: captive breeding as a conservation safety net. Captivity is now considered an important tool of vertebrate conservation.

"What is today being attempted around the world for amphibians through the International Amphibian Ark, and as
proposed by the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act, and many captivity programs for other rare vertebrates ranging from Sumatran rhinos to Guam kingfishers, has already been accomplished for reptiles. Today the vast majority of boas and pythons held in captivity are captive-bred animals. These are animals that have not been removed from the wild.

"Reptiles are today more securely established in captivity than any other vertebrate group. This is truly one of the greatest conservation accomplishments of the past 20 years.

"Almost all species and subspecies of boas and pythons have been bred in the United States. There are now viable self-sustaining captive populations of several hundred species of reptiles being maintained in the United States. Most pythons and many boa species now exist in captivity as viable ancillary populations.

This has been accomplished through a decentralized, nongovernmental, economically driven model of conservation. It is American private enterprise that has achieved this very impressive modern goal, not a penny of American taxpayer dollars has been spent in this endeavor."

State legislation as model

State-level legislation in place in all but eight U.S. States should be considered by the U.S. Congress, Wyatt said.

"For example, last year legislation was passed in North Carolina with the support of the North Carolina Partners in Amphibian & Reptile Conservation to regulate the ownership and use of large constricting snakes. Similar legislation exists in the states of Texas and Florida.

"These measures ensure that safe, secure, professional best management practices are observed to legally work with these animals. USARK is also currently working in Virginia and South Carolina to introduce similar legislation in 2010.

"These best management practices embodied in existing state legislation could easily be adapted to a national USARK accreditation process insuring uniformity and professionalism across the country."

The 2009 update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species shows that 17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said today.

Threatened with extinction are:

• 21 percent of all known mammals
• 30 percent of all known amphibians
• 12 percent of all known birds
• 28 percent of assessed reptiles
• 37 percent of assessed freshwater fishes
• 70 percent of assessed plants
• 35 percent of assessed invertebrates

"The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," said Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group, in a news statement accompanying the 2009 Red List.

This gorgeted puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae) entered the IUCN Red List in 2009 as Critically Endangered. The species is known from southwest Colombia, where it occurs in a tiny area of the Serraníadel Pinche. The global population is not known but is presumably very small given that the area of suitable habitat available for this species is thought to be less than 2,500 acres, and it is suspected to be decreasing as elfin forest habitat is converted for agriculture and illegal coca plantations. The primary threat to this bird is the shifting of the agricultural border towards remaining primary forests, causing a loss of vegetation cover, contamination of watersheds and soil degradation. Illegal coca cultivation is a major threat due to the lack of governmental presence, with 8.3 percent of potentially suitable habitat reportedly damaged annually by coca cultivation.

Photo © Alex Cortes. Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

"January sees the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity," Jane Smart added in today's statement. "The latest analysis of the IUCN Red List shows the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met.

"It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

Tip of the iceberg

"This year's IUCN Red List makes for sobering reading," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit. "These results are just the tip of the iceberg. We have only managed to assess 47,663 species so far; there are many more millions out there which could be under serious threat. We do, however, know from experience that conservation action works so let's not wait until it's too late and start saving our species now."

Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) entered the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered in 2009.

It is known only from central Panama, where it occurs in tropical forest canopy. In 2006, the chytrid fungus was reported in the area where this species is known to occur. Since then, only one individual has been heard calling. There is also some ongoing forest clearing within the species' range for the development of luxury holiday homes, although this potential threat has not yet reached critical levels. This treefrog is one of several species collected for captive breeding efforts, however so far attempts at captive breeding have not produced positive results.

Photo © Brad Wilson

Switzerland-based IUCN is a global environment organization that works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting research, managing field projects, and bringing governments, NGOs, the United Nations and corporations together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken. Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as "Threatened."

The Popondetta blue-eye (Pseudomugil connieae) occurs in three river systems within Papua New Guinea. Human population growth is the main threat to this fish, with increased urbanization and agriculture, which are potential sources of water pollution, resulting in reduced habitat quality within these river systems. This fish is also a much sought after species in the aquarium trade, which poses another potential threat to the population. The species entered the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable in 2009.

Photo © Gerald Allen

Highlights from today's IUCN statement:

Mammals

Of the world's 5,490 mammals, 79 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, with 188 Critically Endangered, 449 Endangered and 505 Vulnerable.

The eastern voalavo (Voalavo antsahabensis) appears on the IUCN Red List for the first time in the Endangered category. This rodent, endemic to Madagascar, is confined to montane tropical forest and is under threat from slash-and-burn farming.

Reptiles

There are now 1,677 reptiles on the IUCN Red List, with 293 added this year. In total, 469 are threatened with extinction and 22 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The 165 endemic Philippine species new to the IUCN Red List include the Panay monitor lizard (Varanus mabitang), which is Endangered. This highly-specialized monitor lizard is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and logging and is hunted by humans for food.

The rare Panay monitor lizard occurs in large trees in primary lowland tropical moist forest. The species is a highly specialized frugivorous monitor lizard (it feeds on fruit). The loss and degradation of lowland forest habitat through conversion of land for agricultural use and logging operations is a threat to this lizard. The species is also hunted by humans for food and overhunting is a serious threat to the remaining population.

Photo © Tim Laman 

The sail-fin water lizard (Hydrosaurus pustulatus) enters in the Vulnerable category and is also threatened by habitat loss. Hatchlings are heavily collected both for the pet trade and for local consumption.

"The world's reptiles are undoubtedly suffering, but the picture may be much worse than it currently looks," says Simon Stuart, chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission. "We need an assessment of all reptiles to understand the severity of the situation, but we don't have the U.S.$2-3 million to carry it out."

Amphibians

The IUCN Red List shows that 1,895 of the planet's 6,285 amphibians are in danger of extinction, making them the most threatened group of species known to date. Of these, 39 are already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, 484 are Critically Endangered, 754 are Endangered and 657 are Vulnerable.

The Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis) was formally declared Extinct in the Wild in the IUCN Red List in 2009. This amphibian was known only from the Kihansi Falls in Tanzania, where it was formerly abundant. However, after 2003 the population dramatically declined, and in January 2004 only three toads could be found, with just two males heard calling. There have been no records since then, despite surveys. The decline of this species was caused by the construction of a dam upstream of the falls in 2000 for the Lower Kihansi Hydropower Project. This removed 90 percent of the water flow, which hugely reduced the volume of spray and altered the vegetation. In 2003, the fungal disease chytridiomycosis was confirmed in dead Kihansi spray toads, and this disease was probably responsible for the final population crash.

Photo © Tim Herman

The fungus also affected the Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog, which enters the Red List as Critically Endangered. (See photo and description higher on this page.)

Plants

Of the 12,151 plants on the IUCN Red List, 8,500 are threatened with extinction, with 114 already Extinct or Extinct in the Wild.

The Queen of the Andes (Puya raimondii) has been reassessed and remains in the Endangered category. Found in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, it only produces seeds once in 80 years before dying. Climate change may already be impairing its ability to flower and cattle roam freely among many colonies, trampling or eating young plants. Other threats include young plants being eaten or trampled by livestock, fires, and removal of pith from trunks.

Photo © Antonio Lambe (Acción Ambiental)

 

Toussaintia patriciae is an Endangered shrub species native to Tanzania. It is known from less than 30 trees in the Udzwunga Mountains National Park and West Kilombero Nature Reserve, and occurs in very low numbers where found, though it is cryptic when not flowering and may be more common that is currently known. It is considered relatively secure at present, as the population is present in protected areas and occurs above the altitude to which firewood collectors are allowed to operate. However, this species could become more threatened very quickly if the impacts of human activities, especially wood collection, were to increase.

Photo © Quentin Luke

 

Invertebrates

There are now 7,615 invertebrates on the IUCN Red List this year, 2,639 of which are threatened with extinction. Scientists added 1,360 dragonflies and damselflies, bringing the total to 1,989, of which 261 are threatened.

The giant jewel (Chlorocypha centripunctata) is known from the Obudu Plateau, Nigeria and from Mount Kupe and the Bakossi Mountains Cameroon. The species occurs in and around rain forest streams above 700-meter altitude. Habitat loss through selective logging and forest destruction for agricultural expansion is the main threat to this species. The species entered the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable in 2009.

 

Photo © Kai Schütte

 

Molluscs

Scientists also added 94 molluscs, bringing the total number assessed to 2,306, of which 1,036 are threatened.

All seven freshwater snails from Lake Dianchi in Yunnan Province, China, are new to the IUCN Red List and all are threatened. These join 13 freshwater fishes from the same area, 12 of which are threatened. The main threats are pollution, introduced fish species and overharvesting.

Freshwater Fishes

There are now 3,120 freshwater fishes on the IUCN Red List, up 510 species from last year. Although there is still a long way to go before the status all the world's freshwater fishes is known, 1,147 of those assessed so far are threatened with extinction.

The giant pangasius (Pangasius sanitwongsei) is a Critically Endangered fish found in the Chao Phraya and Mekong river basins in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. It inhabits the bottom and midwaters of large rivers surrounded by rain forest, and uses deep pools as refuges in the dry season. Overfishing for food, and to a lesser extent the aquarium trade, is the principle threat facing this species. Local fisherman have reported dramatic declines in sightings and catch, and a population decline of more than 99 percent over the past 30-45 years is inferred.

Photo © Chavalit Vidthayanon

The brown mudfish (Neochanna apoda), found only in New Zealand, has been moved from Near Threatened to Vulnerable as it has disappeared from many areas in its range. Approximately 85-90 percent of New Zealand's wetlands have been lost or degraded through drainage schemes, irrigation and land development.

The status of the Australian grayling (Prototroctes maraena), a freshwater fish, has improved as a result of conservation efforts. Now classed as Near Threatened as opposed to Vulnerable, the population has recovered thanks to fish ladders which have been constructed over dams to allow migration, enhanced riverside vegetation and the education of fishermen, who now face heavy penalties if found with this species

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected."

"Creatures living in freshwater have long been neglected. This year we have again added a large number of them to the IUCN Red List and are confirming the high levels of threat to many freshwater animals and plants. This reflects the state of our precious water resources. There is now an urgency to pursue our effort but most importantly to start using this information to move towards a wise use of water resources," said Jean-Christophe Vié, deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme.

Downlisted bird species

The Mauritius fody (Foudia rubra) was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered because its extremely small population has been stable since the early 1990s and is now increasing following an island translocation. The species is restricted to southwest Mauritius, and suffered rapid population declines between 1975 and 1993. However, since 1993 the population has been stable, and there is evidence that dispersing juveniles are now setting up new breeding territories, expanding the range of the species. Historically, clearance of upland forest, particularly for plantations in the 1970s, catastrophically affected this species. Introduced predators (e.g. black rat (Rattus rattus) and crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis)) caused almost total breeding failure in most areas, and nest predation is still the major threat to the species.

Photo © Lucy Garrett (Rare Birds Yearbook). Photo supplied by BirdLife International.

Global figures for 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total species assessed = 47,677
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 875 (2%) [Extinct = 809; Extinct in the Wild = 66].
Total threatened = 17,291 (36%) [Critically Endangered = 3,325; Endangered = 4,891; Vulnerable = 9,075].
Total Near Threatened = 3,650 (8%).
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 281 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 6,557 (14%)
Total Least Concern = 19,023 (40%)

Global figures for 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
Total assessed = 44,838
Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 869 (2%) [Extinct = 804 ; Extinct in the Wild = 65]
Total threatened = 16,928 (38%) [Critically Endangered = 3,246; Endangered = 4,770; Vulnerable = 8,912]
Total Near Threatened = 3,513 (8%)
Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 283 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
Total Data Deficient = 5,570 (12%)
Total Least Concern = 17,675 (39%)

Not all species on the IUCN Red List are threatened. There are now more species on the IUCN Red List. This means that the overall percentage of threatened species has gone down by two percent. This is not because the status of the world's biodiversity is improving, IUCN noted, but because we have assessed more species.

"In the past, Red List assessments often focused on species that were already thought to be threatened, but as the Red List grows to include more complete assessments across entire groups, we are beginning to have a better idea of the relative proportion of species which are threatened against those which are not threatened."

A second species of python--the African rock python--has been found to be breeding in the Florida wild, National Geographic News reports today.

"Already squeezed by the invasion of the giant Burmese python, Florida now faces what one scientist calls one of the U.S. state's "worst nightmares," writes NG News editor Chrstine Dell'Amore. "Africa's largest snake--the ill-tempered, 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python--is colonizing the U.S. state, new discoveries suggest." (Read the full story: Python "Nightmare": New Giant Species Invading Florida.)

Burmese python picture courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

The news follows a spate of recent reports of giant pythons being seized in Florida by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the agency responsible for regulating exotic species in the Sunshine State.

Four-hundred-pound python

A few days ago the FWC seized a pet Burmese python weighing 400 pounds (180 kilograms) and stretching 18 feet long, according to news reports. The snake was taken away from a backyard by authorities after being deemed unsafe.

"Concerns about the size of the snake and whether the chain-link cage she was in was secure enough to contain her, prompted the visit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Friday," the Telegraph reported.

And only a week or so before that, an anonymous tip to the Wildlife Alert Hotline sent FWC investigators to a Florida residence in search of two illegally kept Burmese pythons.

"What was hidden from the world shocked even investigator Daryl Amerson, a 24-year FWC veteran who thought he had seen it all." 

"What was hidden from the world shocked even investigator Daryl Amerson, a 24-year FWC veteran who thought he had seen it all," the FWC said afterward in a statement accompanying the picture below.

"Amerson discovered an 11-foot-long male Burmese python, dwarfed by its female companion, a 17-foot behemoth of the same species that weighed more than 150 pounds."

Burmese python picture courtesy Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

The owner did not have the permits required by state law to keep them, FWC added.

The FWC lists Burmese pythons as reptiles of concern. Burmese pythons have escaped or been released into the Everglades National Park where they are breeding and munching a range of indigenous species that have not evolved protection from such predators. They have even been challenging the alligator to be top of the park's food chain.

Owners of pythons in Florida are required to have the pets microchipped and must follow specific caging requirements based on the size of the reptile, according to the FWC. They also must keep a written and approved contingency plan in case of escape or natural disaster.

The recently confiscated snakes were taken to a licensed facility.

New rules for captive wildlife went into effect in January 2008. People who owned reptiles of concern prior to the effective date are still required to purchase a permit.

Pet Amnesty Day

The FWC hosts pet amnesty days several times a year. At these events, people who can no longer keep nonnatives as pets can turn them over to the FWC for placement. The next pet amnesty day will be for reptiles of concern only, at Gatorland in Orlando on October 3.

Florida Wildlife Alert Hotline:

888-404-3922 

The FWC has appealed to residents of the state to report wildlife law violations, by calling the toll-free Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.

Pythons first appeared in South Florida nearly two decades ago, and they now take center stage as efforts to control their proliferation in the Everglades continue by wildlife managers at both the federal and state levels, according to the FWC.

You might also like:

Pythons in Florida Everglades: Is the Snake Invasion Only Beginning?
The giant snakes were imported to North America as pets, but released or escaped into Florida's wetlands they are proliferating, challenging alligators for the top of the food chain, and potentially positioning themselves to invade much more of the United States. Conservation biologist Stuart Pimm discusses the problem.

 

 

Guests at the Island Beachcomber Hotel on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin islands received an unexpected visitor from the ocean last night. A giant leatherback turtle came ashore to deposit her eggs at the feet of guests, a rare but welcome surprise that delighted all who experienced it.

Photo courtesy Doug Norwood

"It thrilled our guests," said hotel general manager Rebekah Saville in a telephone interview today. "Our staff who have been here for as long as 30 years say they have never seen anything like this before."

The leatherback was one of three turtles known to have come ashore to lay eggs on St. Thomas in recent weeks. The turtle that came on to the Lindberg Beach in front of the Beachcomber went as far as a line of beach chairs before digging a hole to bury her eggs in the sand.

Photo courtesy Doug Norwood

Hotel staff cordoned off the area and the nest has been placed under 24-hour security guard.

"We thought she was going to go to the bar for a beer," quipped Doug Norwood, a hotel guest from North Carolina, who made the photographs on this page. "But all she did was cover her nest and go back out to sea."

Leatherbacks are the largest living sea turtles, growing up to seven feet (two meters) long and exceeding 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). Their evolutionary roots have been traced back more than 100 million years.

They are designated as endangered worldwide under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The main threats to them are loss of habitat (including fewer suitable beaches for nesting), entanglement in fishing lines, and ingestion of plastic bags they mistake for jellyfish, their preferred food.

"We called experts from Coral World and several government departments to alert them to this," Saville said.

"It's a miracle that this has happened now, right before dredging of St Thomas harbor is about to start to accommodate new cruise ships. The sand from the dredging is supposed to be dumped in our bay, which threatens our marine life. Now we hope that the presence of the turtle eggs will stop those plans," she said.

The leatherback may have been passing St. Thomas when she felt the urge for one final round of egg-laying, said Coral World Ocean Park assistant curator Erica Palmer. "This is the end of the leatherback nesting season and she could have laid her first eggs somewhere else before heading back to her feeding grounds, when she felt the urge to lay her last eggs," Palmer explained.

St. Thomas had seen a increase in leatherback nesting in recent years, Palmer added, most likely because the turtles' numbers were increasing in the Atlantic Ocean. "There have been a lot of studies of these guys on St. Croix, which is a very popular nesting site for them. As the population grows they are starting to nest in different locations."

Photo courtesy Doug Norwood

Palmer said the rise in leatherback nesting on St. Thomas, a popular Caribbean tourism destination visited daily by cruise ships, started being properly studied by conservationists and government agencies only recently. "We are trying to get a general sense of what beaches they are using so we can make special efforts to protect them," she said.

The eggs left in front of the Beachcomber Hotel last night will be carefully guarded, Palmer said. "As we approach the time for hatching--about 60 to 75 days after the eggs were deposited--volunteers will be posted to sit by the nest through the night to make sure that the hatchlings make their journey to the ocean safely.

Photo courtesy Doug Norwood

"The contents of the nest will be examined to make sure no stragglers are left behind. The egg shells will be studied to look for undeveloped eggs and deformed hatchlings, count the number of eggs hatched, and make an overall assessment of the health of the turtles," Palmer said.

Coral World is currently researching turtle populations and the effects of lighting on turtles.

Snakes have bodies and methods of locomotion perfect for situations where limbs would be a disadvantage. They can glide in and out of rubble, penetrate crevices, and navigate situations that most other animals would find impassable.

This is what makes them so attractive to robot engineers, who envisage many applications for agile and stealthy "snake bots."

National Park Service photo of a milk snake by Jonathan Mays

Robotic snakes could be created to help with bomb-disposal, search-and-rescue in dangerous situations like collapsed buildings, heart surgery (using microscopic snake bots slithering through blood vessels), and surveillance (imagine a spy bot popping its camera-carrying head out of a hole in the ground or a chink in the ceiling.)

Much of the quest to build a better snake bot has focused on trying to understand exactly how a snake moves.

Video of snake robot developed by Scandinavia's SINTEF Group and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology:

Using a type of locomotion known as lateral undulation, snakes drive their flanks against rocks and branches along the ground, scientists have long believed. some snake bots have been designed to move accordingly.

Now, research published today reveals that, for certain types of locomotion, snakes use the friction created by their skin. Wide overlapping scales on their bellies snag rough surfaces and help the reptiles propel themselves. Speed and direction can be controlled by lifting their bodies and changing the weight and force applied by their scales on the surface they are on.

"The physical mechanisms that snakes use to slither have been the subject of much debate. Previous analyses have assumed that snakes push against rocks and trees to propel themselves forward," a team of researchers led by David Hu said of their research published in PNAS Online Early Edition.

Hu, of the Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, and colleagues from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, examined how snakes move over different surfaces.

NPS photo of milk snake by Jack O'Brien

Their experiments suggest that friction caused by the snake's skin also plays a critical role in a snake's ability to propel itself along a flat surface.

Hu's team focused on lateral undulation, in which the snake presses its belly against an object to propel forward.

The researchers used 10 juvenile pueblan milk snakes in their experiments.

The snakes were given a general anesthetic and, when they were unconscious, were arranged in nine orientations on an inclined plane covered with two materials, a cloth of a roughness comparable with the thickness of the snake's belly scales, and a smooth fiberboard, with a scale of roughness much less than that of the snake's scales.

By comparing how the snakes slid along an inclined surface covered like this, the researchers showed that the belly scales perform a vital function: they snag on the irregularities on rough surfaces, which helps the snake slither laterally. There was no snagging of the scales on the smooth surface.

Conscious snakes were also observed and filmed slithering along a plank covered with either cloth or fiberboard, set at differing angles of inclination.

Photo courtesy David Hu

The scientists found that by lifting their bodies as they moved, snakes were able to adjust their weight distribution and direction that provides optimal friction.

Snakes are likely to also be able to dynamically change their frictional interactions with a surface by adjusting the attitude of their scales, the researchers said. But this theory could not be tested.

Snake Bots Could Cross Sand

The findings could lead to development of robotic snakelike organisms that can slither across flat surfaces such as sand, which lack obvious push points, the researchers said.

Snake robots designed on the basis of earlier research by others focused on the notion that snakes slither by driving their flanks laterally against neighboring rocks and branches found along the ground.

"This key assumption has informed numerous theoretical analyses and facilitated the design of snake robots for search-and-rescue operations ... Snake robots have been generally built to slither over flat surfaces by using passive wheels fixed to the body that resist lateral motion," Hu and colleagues said.

"We present a theory for how snakes slither, or how wheelless snake robots can be designed to slither, on relatively featureless terrain such as sand or bare rock, which do not provide obvious push points."

Photo courtesy David Hu

Video of snake robots at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute:

Photo copyright Project Exploration, all rights reserved

Among the thousands of students participating in the Indiana Dunes BioBlitz was a small group from Project Exploration.

Founded in 1999 by paleontologist Paul Sereno and educator Gabrielle Lyon to make science accessible, Chicago-based Project Exploration inspires minority youth and girls with the wonders of science and discovery.

"We get students interested in science, keep students interested in science and equip students to pursue science," says the Project Exploration Web site. "Our programs target Chicago public school students who have been low and middle achievers, but who are also curious, open-minded, and passionate; 85 percent of our students are from low-income families. Project Exploration sets students on a path to future careers in science."

The Project Exploration team at the Indiana Dunes BioBlitz on Saturday, from left: Mikki Brown, Project Exploration, Youth Programs Coordinator; Nina C., Curie High School; Jehad B., Curie High School; Michael R., ACE Tech Charter School; Gabrielle Lyon, Project Exploration Cofounder and Executive Director; Khadijah P., North Lawndale College Prep. (Not pictured, Mary Elizabeth Perez, Project Exploration)

Photo by David Braun

I met up with the Project Exploration team at the bioblitz today and heard about their adventure in the wet woods, where there they accompanied herpetologist Alan Resetar from Chicago's Field Museum (in the top photo) in search of species of reptiles and amphibians.

The highlight of the outing, the students agreed, was a sighting of a large snapping turtle.Read more about this on the Project Exploration Blog.

The bioblitz is what Project Exploration is all about, said Gabrielle Lyon, Project Exploration cofounder and executive director. "It's about bringing students and people with curious minds together with scientists to explore the world."

Exploring the Indiana Dunes also helped the students understand the environment preferred by reptiles, Lyon explained. This summer the students will participate in a fossil dig, and there they would use the knowledge of modern reptile habitat to help piece together the ancient environment in which reptiles lived during the dinosaur age 67 million years ago in Montana.

Watch this video in which Gabrielle Lyon and students talk about Project Exploration and the bioblitz:

Video by David Braun

Read more on Project Exploration's Blog >>

 

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake picture by Michael Redmer/Courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo

Habitat loss, persecution, and collection for the illegal pet trade has driven the eastern massasauga rattlesnake almost to extinction in northeastern Illinois. Now local wildlife agencies have united to round up the last wild individuals in an attempt to save the species locally.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Lincoln Park Zoo are collaborating to conserve the species through capture and recovery efforts, says a news statement released by the agencies today.

"Considerable scientific data indicate eastern massasauga rattlesnakes will vanish forever if the remaining snakes aren't found. This is an emergency situation and we must act now," says Joe Kath, IDNR endangered species project manager.

The goal of the recovery effort is to locate the last remaining snakes in northeastern Illinois and place them in appropriate propagation facilities, including Lincoln Park Zoo. It is an effort to bolster the population and ensure the species' survival. The goal is to increase the snake's numbers, secure local habitat, and eventually reintroduce it to the wild.

While eastern massasauga rattlesnakes live in small pockets from western New York and southern Ontario to southern Iowa and northeastern Missouri, a recent genetic study identified three distinctive genetic groupings of the reptile in North America. The northeastern Illinois snake population is a distinct variation that will be lost forever if swift conservation action isn't taken, conservationists have concluded.

"Substantial evidence suggests the Chicago-area population has reached critically low numbers, and is unlikely to recover to a sustainable level in the wild under existing conditions. Drastic action is needed now if we are to salvage this unique genetic group of eastern massasauga," says Michael Redmer, a herpetologist at the FWS Chicago Field Office.

Rattlesnakes are an iconic species that serve a crucial role in the Illinois ecosystem as both a highly evolved predator and as prey, the news statement says. "As predators, rattlesnakes control mice and rat populations, thereby reducing the spread of diseases like Lyme and Hantavirus. Rattlesnakes also are a prey species hunted by hawks, owls, cranes and some mammals.

Photo courtesy FWS

"Additionally, rattlesnake venom may serve an important role in human medicine. Researchers are currently studying the benefits of its use in certain drugs and medications." "Sadly there are very few snakes left, and we have an ethical obligation to conserve them," says Joanne Earnhardt, director of the Alexander Center for Applied Population Biology at Lincoln Park Zoo, who serves as the eastern massasauga rattlesnake Species Survival Plan coordinator.

Lincoln Park Zoo is also spearheading the eastern massasauga rattlesnake Species Survival Plan's five-year study of a key population of the reptiles at Big Rock Valley, headquarters of the Edward Lowe Foundation. The goal of the study, which launches in May, is to locate as many rattlesnakes as possible and follow them over several years.

Many of the existing studies on massasaugas have been focused on behavior or habitat, Earnhardt says in the news statement. "In contrast, a longitudinal study that follows individual snakes will give us a better idea about survival and reproduction rates."

Big Rock Valley is a 2,600-acre property of forests, lakes, ponds and streams in southwestern Michigan. This population of snakes is genetically different than those ranging in northeastern Illinois. The researchers plan to implant the snakes with small transponders--the kind used to identify pets--that can be read with a special scanner whenever snakes are recaptured.

TRAFFIC photo by Chris R Shepherd

Unregulated trade -- at 10 to 100 times legal levels -- has caused Southeast Asian Box Turtles almost to vanish from parts of Indonesia, where once they were common, according to a report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

"The turtles are used for meat and in traditional Chinese medicine, with major markets in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Malaysia, mostly supplied from Indonesia. Animals are also exported as pets, mainly to the U.S., Europe and Japan," TRAFFIC said in a news release.

The Southeast Asian Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis) is one of 29 freshwater turtles native to Indonesia. It has a low reproductive rate, making it susceptible to over-harvesting. The species is listed by IUCN as vulnerable to extinction.

The TRAFFIC study found at least 18 traders operating in the Indonesian provinces Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan dealing illegally in Southeast Asian Box Turtles.

"Each trader handled an average of just under 2,230 turtles a week, adding up to a combined total of 2.1 million Southeast Asian Box Turtles per year. The vast majority is destined for export, although Indonesia's official annual export quota for this species is just 18,000 turtles -- a figure set without a scientific basis," according to TRAFFIC.

"The number of Southeast Asian Box Turtles currently traded is certainly ten times the official export quota, and probably nearer 100 times," said Sabine Schoppe, author of the report.

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Photo courtesy University of Rochester

A fossil of a tropical, freshwater, Asian turtle suggests that animals migrated from Asia to North America directly across a freshwater sea floating atop the warm, salty Arctic Ocean, scientists announced today in the journal Geology.

The finding (in the photo above) also suggests that a rapid influx of carbon dioxide some 90 million years ago was the likely cause of a super-greenhouse effect that created extraordinary polar heat.

"We're talking about extremely warm, ice-free conditions in the Arctic region, allowing migrations across the pole," says John Tarduno, professor  of geophysics at the University of Rochester, New York, and leader of the expedition that found the fossil. Tarduno's work was funded in part by the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration.

"We've known there's been an interchange of animals between Asia and North America in the late Cretaceous period, but this is the first example we have of a fossil in the High Arctic region showing how this migration may have taken place," he says in a news release about the research.

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An adult male of the pink iguana from the Galápagos on the rim of the crater of Volcan Wolf. The newly recognized species of iguana may already be endangered and could become extinct, scientists warn.

Photo courtesy of Gabriele Gentile

Had Charles Darwin explored the Volcan Wolf volcano when he visited the Galápagos in 1835 he might have spotted this pink land iguana, a species that originated in the islands more than five million years ago.

The northernmost volcano on the island of Isabela is the only home of the "rosada" iguana, a newly identified species of the land iguana Conolophus, scientists said today.

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Keepers capture the moment a rhino ratsnake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) emerges from its shell at ZSL London Zoo -- the first time this species of snake has been bred in a European Zoo.

ZSL London Zoo's Reptile House produced a clutch of eight snakes, three of which have been exchanged with other European zoos in a program to increase the captive population of this species, which originates from the mountains of Vietnam.

The reptiles, which are often nicknamed "green unicorns" because of their hornlike features, will turn green when they reach around one year of age. They will reach about 40 inches (one meter) long and feed on geckos, frogs, and rodents.

Note: I will be adding photos from zoos to my blog from time to time. Zoos play a vital role in teaching urban people about animals and nature, which hopefully will encourage support for conservation of the same species in the wild. Increasingly, zoos are also serving as arks to shelter endangered species from the global extinction crisis.

Photos by Ferry van Stralen/Courtesy ZSL London Zoo

Photo courtesy NOAA

Leatherback sea turtles and sharks need protection from industrial fisheries by identifying and creating marine protected areas along the Pacific leatherback's migratory routes, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Conservation Congress resolved.

More than 8,000 scientists, government officials and environmental organizations from 250 nations gathered at the IUCN congress overwhelmingly supported the resolution, designed to shield the critically endangered Pacific leatherback and the hammerhead shark from longline and gillnet fisheries.

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A new iguana has been discovered on Fiji, an island country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Named Brachylophus bulabula (bula means "hello" in Fijian), the colorful new species joins only two other living Pacific iguana species, one of which is critically endangered, U.S. Geological Survey scientists said today.

Brachylophus bulabula female on Kadavu Island, Fiji

Photo copyright Paddy Ryan, Ryan Photographic 

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Giant snakes may not be about to invade much of the United States, after all. 

One of the more dire predictions of the consequences of climate change came from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) a few months ago: The giant Burmese python currently wreaking havoc in the Florida Everglades could find itself "comfortable" in as much as a third of the nation once temperatures rise as projected.

A new study using a different computer model released this week suggests otherwise. Climate change will actually seriously impact the current range of the reptile in the U.S., confining it to the swampy southern fringe of Florida.

Read more and see a snake "climate match" map and pictures in the extended entry.

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