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CROCODOPOLIS world of crocodilians TM SCIENCE · CULTURE · INDUSTRY · NEWS · COMMUNICATION · CONSERVATION
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NEWS
THE CROC PRESS
Regular coverage of crocodilians and people in headlines worldwide.
Wes von Papineäu News Page Editor Email: crocnews@crocodopolis.net _________________________________________________
Week of 06 May 07
09 May 07
Mating season jeopardized as water dries
Southern Florida's current drought will probably have a negative impact on this year's mating season but will not affect the alligator population. "Reproductively, droughts have a big effect," Lindsey Hord, a biologist for the state's Alligator Management Program said. "Once water levels drop to a certain point, alligators start feeling the stress of low water, and their reproductive system shuts down." "Mature adults will survive - only mature alligators dig caves - but sub-adults probably won't. As water bodies dry out, they get desiccated and die, or they get eaten by big alligators, or they go for a walk and get run over." When a male and female hook up, the process, Knight said, turns gentle. "One puts its head over the top of the other's shoulder, and they nuzzle a little bit," he said. "When they start to copulate, the male bites the female's shoulder to get a grip: There's not much to hang on to." Very romantic. http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705090365
09 May 07 Spanky doesn't need help
In Florida, drainage pond resident "Spanky", a 7-foot/2.1 metre long gator, was recently discovered to have a large fishing hook in its cheek. A local had been trying to get someone to come out, tranquilize the gator, take the hook out and return the gator either to the wild or to the pond. However, an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took a long range look at Spanky and determined that the hook would either rot out or Spanky would get it out somehow, but it wasn't hurting the gator. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/050907/nen_168308867.shtml 09 May 07 Abandoned caiman found Under Virginia woman's car
A Stafford County, Virginia woman discovered what appeared to be a small caiman under her car. And that's all we get in this very short item. http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=6489906&nav=S6aK 09 May 07 Misdemeanors in the Mansion
(Corey Hutchins) While South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford's children recently penned a book about their escapades growing up in the Governor's Mansion titled Mischief in the Mansion, one state worker says the kids' cuteness may actually be crookery.
A herpetologist with the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) told a newspaper that transporting a baby alligator from the coast of South Carolina to Columbia, like the governor's children say they did in their book, would be absolutely illegal. DNR does not give out permits to possess alligators to individuals and usually only issues them to institutions for educational purposes. "Bottom line is," he said, "it is very difficult for an individual to get a permit." Anyone caught transporting an alligator, prank or not, would be subject to the charge of "possession of an alligator without a permit." http://www.columbiacitypaper.com/2007/5/9/may-9-news-briefs
08 May 07 China snaps at inbreeding Of endangered alligator
Chinese
experts have warned that inbreeding could harm efforts to save the
country's 150 wild and endangered Yangtze alligators.
A
population explosion at an artificial breeding centre charged with
releasing robust alligators into the wild has prompted fears of their
"genetic degradation".
"Offspring produced by genetically similar parents are often
weak and have a hard time surviving," said Wang Chaolin, a senior
engineer at the Chinese Alligator Propagation Research Center at
Xuancheng.
The center's population increases by about 1,000 a year, raising
fears of inbreeding amongst the already large population of 10,000
alligators.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-05/08/content_867206.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPEK235686200
07 May 07 Thai scientists work on crocodile smiles
Here's
a follow-up to the April 21 headline, "Thailand invents crocodile
smile": A team of Thai scientists have found that crocodile eggs
provide a goldmine of hydroxyapatite, the bioactive material commonly
used in bone and teeth transplants worldwide.
By combining the crushed shells (which reportedly have a calcium
content of up to %40) with phosphate using a pressurized hydrothermal
process, the team found they could make hydroxyapatite powder similar to
the imported commercial product.
Similar processes are used to make hydroxyapatite abroad using
chicken egg shells, but crocodile egg shells were superior because of
their natural white pigment and the fact that they are much "bigger
and harder" than chicken eggs.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=118581
07 May 07 Jackals on 'alligator' rampage In Chambal sanctuary
Officials
at the National Chambal Sanctuary near Agra are at their wits end trying
to prevent the menace caused by a group of jackals that have become a
threat to local gharials (Gavialis gangeticus).
Though
officials deny any shortfall in the "alligator" (many locals
refer to the gharial as the Indian alligator) population at the
sanctuary, they admit that the jackals are a menace. http://www.dailyindia.com/show/139233.php/Jackals-on-alligator-rampage 07 May 07 Crocodile kills boy in river
In
Costa Rica, what started out as a regular afternoon with his friends at
the northern Caribbean Río Tortuguero turned out to be the last for
13-year-old Breydi Escorcia, who was killed by a 6 metre/19.6 ft -long
crocodile in the river Friday.
The
crocodile grabbed Escorica's foot and pulled him under water. His friend
Luis Wilson said that the boy, knowing his death was near, cried out a
final farewell to his brother and told him to say goodbye to their
father. He managed to warn his friends to never swim in the river again.
Escorcia,
who often played in the river, had apparently been attacked by the
crocodile, known in the community as Juancho, on two previous occasions,
his friends told La Nación. Both times, he had managed to escape.
More
detailed Spanish-language links to this story can be found here: (If
necessary, you may use the free Translator service via the link near the
bottom of this page)
http://www.ticotimes.net/dailyarchive/2007_05/0507072.htm
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/mayo/06/sucesos1086772.html
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/mayo/06/sucesos1086841.html
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/mayo/05/ultima-sr1087050.html http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/mayo/05/sucesos1085704.html
06 May 07 Can they capture Reggie? Wranglers are lining up to go after the gator, but he knows how to be elusive
The
latest on the ‘Capture Reggie’ plotting.
Not
surprisingly, "Reggiemania" is making a comeback.
There
are "I'm Back!" and "Reggie for President" T-shirts
being hawked on the Internet (www.cafepress.com/dpriebedesigns/2916153);
Reggie is blogging again and selling logo merchandise (www.savereggie.blogspot.com);
and singer-songwriter Lisa Haley is writing a new verse for "Reggie
Alligator," her fun-loving, foot-stomping 2005 ode to the famous
reptile.
At Cafe Reggie on
the Wilmington Harbor Park Golf Course near the lake, the $3.50 Reggie
burgers are selling fast.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/7358036.html 05 May 07 Close call for crocodiles at farm
In
Malaysia, 350 crocodiles in a farm at Parit Jawa here almost died when
thieves removed the electrical wiring to the water pumps in the 10
ponds. Farm owner, Ng Chon Sing said: “The fresh water crocodiles will
die within hours if there is no oxygen supply in the water”. Of the 352 crocodiles of the Tembaga family (Crocodylus porosus), 140 are adults with some more than 24 years old, measuring five metres/16.4 long and weighing over 400kg/880 lbs. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/20070505
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