animalphiles

New York zoo first to hatch rare monitors

Quince monitors, native to the Sula Islands of Indonesia, were first described only a decade ago. Soon after they were known to science, the Department of Herpetology at the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Bronx Zoo headquarters acquired a group of these animals with the goal of starting a captive breeding program. For several years the group produced many eggs which were unfortunately eaten by the adults before they could be retrieved by the keepers. Through diligent monitoring by Wild Animal Keeper Melissa Mohring, a fertile clutch of eggs was finally collected. After incubating at the World of Reptiles Nursery for the past six months seven beautiful hatchlings emerged this week. This is the first successful breeding of this species in the United States!

Curator of Herpetology Jennifer Pramuk commented on this occasion, "This is the latest in a long history of breeding 'firsts' for our department and we are quite excited. We have the meticulous, collaborative work of our Zookeepers to thank for this success. Because this has important relevance for international captive conservation efforts, our Keepers are being encouraged to publish their protocols and breeding data. Protocols refined at the Bronx Zoo may help other institutions breed the quince monitor and other related species."

This egg shows tiny slits made by the hatchling's egg tooth. Monitors typically "pip" (the process of breaking its shell) a day or two before they emerge completely from their egg. Monitor eggs are soft and leathery unlike a hard-shelled bird egg.

After the animals hatched in the Department's Nursery incubators, a thorough neonatal exam was performed on them. Dr. Stephanie James, a Senior Veterinarian in the WCS Department of Clinical Care at the Wildlife Health Center gave them their first check up, including the application of some Betadine solution (a topical antiseptic) to the navel area.

Quince monitors are carnivorous throughout their lives. The hatchlings are approximately 9 inches (23 cm) in total length and as adults may achieve a total length of 47 inches (120 cm). The conservation status of this species is likely vulnerable due to habitat loss and collection for the pet trade. Some of these quince monitors hatched at the Bronx Zoo will be sent to other accredited Association of American Zoos & Aquarium (AZA) institutions that have reptile conservation programs of their own.

Giant spitting cobra discovered

From Reuters:
A giant spitting cobra, measuring nearly nine feet and carrying enough venom to kill at least 15 people, has been discovered in Kenya, a conservation group said on Friday.    

WildlifeDirect said the snake it described as the world's largest had been recognized as a new species and named the Naja Ashei after James Ashe, who founded a snake farm on Kenya's coast where the massive serpents are found.

"A new species of giant spitting cobra is exciting and reinforces the obvious -- that there have to be many other unreported species but hundreds are being lost as their habitats disappear under the continued mismanagement of our planet," said the group's chairman, Kenyan environmentalist Richard Leakey.

Spitting cobras, able to launch poison over a distance of several meters, are common to Kenya's lowland climates.

WildlifeDirect said the discovery would help find an anti-venom for the bite. "Lives can be saved," it added.

 

 

Arizona zoo adds to rare white gator collection

White alligators are among the most rare reptiles in the world—only a few dozen are known to survive to adulthood.  So in 2005, Wildlife World Zoo became home to Arizona’s first and only Albino American Alligator. This female white alligator, now 6 feet long, is a natural occurring color mutation of the American Alligator found throughout the Southeastern United States. 

Recently, in preparation for the grand opening of Wildlife World’s new aquarium in late 2008, two additional albino alligators were added to the zoo’s extensive reptile collection. All three white alligators are now on public display everyday from 9a.m. to 5p.m. in the zoo’s Tropics of the World reptile exhibit building.

Albino animals face serious challenges in the wild.  Their lack of coloration prevents them from camouflaging themselves in swamplands.  As young animals, they are much more visible and vulnerable to predators.   Thus, it is highly unlikely for white alligators to survive into adulthood.  In addition, they are unable to withstand the sun’s rays.  As a result, they are unable to properly bask in sunlight  (i.e., regulate body temperature) without risking serious sunburn.

These white alligators come from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida. Special housing for the animals includes an indoor, climate controlled room and pool with limited filtered sunlight. Young alligators tend to grow about 1 foot per year for the first 7 to 8 years after which the rate slows. Alligators may live from 70 to 80 years, reach lengths in excess of 13 feet and weigh up to 600lbs.  Once on the verge of extinction in the late 1960’s, legal protections have enabled the American Alligator population to recover making it one of the best conservation success stories ever.


 

Albino gator finds home in Knoxvile

An albino alligator doesn't need to worry about predators or sunburn at his new home at the Knoxville Zoo. She is on loan from the Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida.

This gal came from a commercial farm nest where albinos are found every year. They are all believed to be the offspring of a pair who both carry the recessive gene for albinism.

She will get a name on Monday, win the winner of a naming contest is announced.

The Knoxville Zoo's resident reptile expert, Phil Colclough, says "Is she real?" is the most common questions asked by visitors. He says they stare until she takes a breath or moves her eyes or jumps in the pool."

There are about 50 white alligators at zoos nationwide.

American croc no longer "endangered"

The American crocodile is now off the endangered species list. It was declassified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tuesday.

Federal officials say the croc has rebounded from the edge of extinction. There are now about 2,000 living in Florida, up from 300 in the 1970s. The croc will still enjoy federal protection as a "threatened species" which makes it illegal to harass, poach or kill the reptiles.

Rare blind snake found in Madagascar

From LiveScience: A rare blind snake has been rediscovered in Madagascar a century after its last sighting. The snake, which looks like a long, skinny pink worm, was only known from two other specimens, both discovered in 1905.

Scientists captured the Xenotyphlops mocquardi in 2005 but did not know the significance of the find until they sent it to an expert at Harvard University. Read the full article from LiveScience.com.

Care for some poison with your dinner, sir?

Poison toads are the bad "mothas" of the amphibian kingdom. One bite and it's bye-bye (or, at least, a wicked bad trip, man). Unless you're a Rhabdophis tigrinus (tiger keelback). This snake eats toxic toads for lunch (literally). The it does the really nifty trick of procession all that poison to use for its own defense by loading up its nuchal gland (look where the arrow is pointing. Read more at LiveScience.com.

It's not snake oil - but you do need snakes (and oil)

Some people see a snake and get all tied up in knots. Others see a snake and think - ahhh - now that's going to be relaxing. Step into Ada Barak's spa in Israel and ask for a certain deep tissue treatment and you'll be covered in writhing, though non-venomous, snakes.

It costs about $70 and customers are quoted as saying the effects are "very good," apparently even if you're afraid of snakes. The spas owner says once folks get over their aversion the snakes are actually soothing.

Snake makes meal of 11 guard dogs

From Reuters:
A 23-foot long python swallowed 11 dogs guarding a fruit orchard in Malasia.

Villagers captured the snake and turned it over to wildlife officials. "I was shocked to see such a huge python," orchard-keeper Ali Yusof told the New Straits Times in an article published beneath a picture of the captured snake, which was almost long enough to span the width of a tennis court and as thick as a tree trunk.

Virgin birth for dragon

The headline sounds like something out of a biblical-medieval fantasy mash-up. The more scientific phrasing would be asexual reproduction birth for Varanus komodoensis.

A Komodo dragon at the Chester Zoo in Britain is parenting five babies, hatched over the last week. Flora, as she is known, never had any contact with a male partner and was not artificially inseminated. Such asexual conceptions are not uncommon in reptiles, but this is only the second time it has been documented in a Komodo. The first was earlier this year at the London Zoo.

If this proves to be some sort of evolutionary breakthrough, it comes at a crucial time for the species, since only about 4,000 remain in the wild. Read more about the babies and their mother at the Chester Zoo's Web site.