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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 22 June 08
CROCTV:
16 June 08 Crazy O'Dz Underwater Crocodile Encounter
Adventurer Crazy O'Dz encounters an Indopacific Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Here's his description of tete-a-tete: "I filmed this crocodile in the waters of the island nation of Palau. I have always had a fear of these terrifying creatures, but once we spent a little time together we became tolerant of each other's presence and I was able to get some amazing footage..." See it here.
24 June 08 Alcohol-drinking Fla. man Loses arm in attack by gator
(Video link at URL below.) Kasey Edwards, 18, said he never paid "too much mind" to alligators swimming in canals, that is until he lost his left arm to a 11 1/2-foot/3.5-metre alligator.
Edwards, was hanging out with friends on Nubbin Slough in Okeechobee County when he told them he was going to swim across a 25-foot/7-metre-deep canal. Edwards had been drinking alcoholic beverages earlier and may have been impaired.
Edwards said his attack shows how something needs to be done about the overpopulation of gators. "They're not protected creatures. They're nuisance animals," he said.
Hunters from the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Commission captured and destroyed the alligator
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/24/18-year-old-attacked-by-11-foot-gator-in-okeechobe/ 24 June 08
Alligator in attack destroyed
23 June 08 Man fights off large crocodile with palm frond
A 20-year old Australian man is recovering in hospital after he was attacked by a 15-foot/ 4.5-metre saltwater crocodile.
Mr Bartlett and his two dogs were chasing a feral pig into the jungle when he was attacked by "a big salty".
The young hunter said he'd made the mistake of turning his back on a lagoon as he pursued the pig into the jungle. That "brain freeze" almost cost him his life -crocodiles can run at high speed on dry land.
The only weapon he could find to defend himself was a palm frond, which he started swinging at the monster, and shouting at the same time. Remarkably, the crocodile backed into the water.
Just as he thought he was safe, the crocodile lunged at one of the dogs, disappearing back into the lagoon. "He just came up and went 'bang', took the dog from right in front of me." 23 June 08 Crocodile babies cry out for hatching
The world press has picked up the journal Current Biology's item that pre-hatching calls are produced by baby Nile crocodiles as messages to each other and to their mother, according to French researchers. They concluded that the calls tell others in the nest to hatch, and also tell the mother to start digging up the nest.
"We can well suppose that hatching synchrony can be of vital importance for crocodiles," said researchers. "Indeed, most mortality occurs early in life and hatching vocalizations might well attract predators. Therefore, adult presence at the nest and its response to juvenile vocalizations may offer protection against potential predators. In this sense, it is important for all embryos in the nest to be ready for hatching at the same time so that they all receive adult care and protection."
They found that the calls have a "complex acoustic structure", but individual baby crocodiles do not appear to have distinctive calls - so that mothers are unlikely to recognise the calls of their own young compared to the calls of another's offspring. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062300867.html RELATED LINKS: 24 June 08 A word in your shell: How crocodiles tell each other when to hatch 24 June 08 Krokodile sprechen Schlüpftermin aus dem Ei ab http://www.szon.de/news/lifestyle/wissen/200806240862.html?_from=rss 24 June 08 Animali: coccodrilli, dall'uovo parlano con madre e fratelli http://www.corriere.it/ultima_ora/notizie.jsp?id=%7b94A9F963-693B-4C80-92C0-19433DE332B6%7d 24 June 08 Los cocodrilos emiten sonidos desde dentro del huevo para llamar a la madre 24 June 08 Krokodillenjong roept in ei naar moeder http://www.nrc.nl/wetenschap/article1141381.ece/Krokodillenjong_roept_in_ei_naar_moeder 24 June 08 And an Arabic-language version from a London UK paper (... I can't get the title font to transfer) http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=64&article=476196&issueno=10801 24 June 08 Bayi Buaya 'Ngobrol' Sebelum Menetas http://www.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/06/24/10033797/bayi.buaya.ngobrol..sebelum.menetas 23 June 08 http://lenta.ru/news/2008/06/23/together/ 23 June 08 Wild Chinese alligator found in east China
Fishermen in the eastern province of Anhui have found a wild Chinese alligator, which is being called a living fossil, and tracks of another.
The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), also known as the Yangtze alligator, was very plentiful more than 230 million years ago, particularly on the eastern seaboard. But now, with a population of no more than 150 in the wild, it is listed one of the world's most endangered creatures. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/23/content_6787673.htm 23 June 08 Alligator found in Chicago River
Authorities have captured a 5 foot/1.5 metre long alligator in the Chicago River.
The alligator didn't try to attack anyone and was safely pulled from the river by a reptile expert.
The alligator was probably a discarded pet, officials said. It's now in the custody of the reptile expert. Video link at the URL below. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sns-ap-odd-chicago-alligator,0,930651.story?track=rss 23 June 08 Huge gator creeps into Jacksonville yard
A Jacksonville, Florida family found a 10-foot/3-metre-long alligator in their front yard.
"I saw this thing and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, they got a new statue," said a resident. "But then I stopped, and it was real. It scared me really bad." http://www.wesh.com/news/16683561/detail.html?rss=orl&psp=news 23 June 08 Teen finds alligator hiding In drainage pipe near her home
A Palm Bay, Florida found a 6 foot/2 metre alligator in the drainage ditch of her family's home.
The fire department used its hoses to flush the gator out of the pipe. Once it was out, the trapper was able to catch and kill it. http://www.wftv.com/news/16682526/detail.html?rss=orlc&psp=news 23 June 08 Heard the one about Hyannis' alligator?
In Massachusetts, Hyannis residents received a scaly surprise when a 3-foot/metre-long alligator parked itself under a vehicle parked on the street.
Barnstable Natural Resource Officer Thomas Murray commented "I was kind of surprised. Usually when we get a call like this, it's about 1 foot long. This was pretty good-sized."
After capturing the gator, the same official said he suspected the animal was an abandoned pet and "Usually if someone abandons an animal, it's not in a neighborhood. It's out in a conservation area, or someplace relatively remote."
Murray said the animal would be housed overnight at the Natural Resource Department and would be picked up today by staff from New England Reptile and Raptor Rehabilitation in Taunton.
It is illegal to own an alligator in Massachusetts. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/NEWS/806230318 22 June 08 See you later, alligator
In Edinburg, Texas, David Zarate has decided to get rid of the 5-foot/1.5 metre alligator he keeps in a wooden box in his backyard.
Acquired as a hatchling, "Vadar" is now 5 years old and has gotten too big and too aggressive for Zarate to handle.
Not to mention it's illegal to own Vadar as a pet in Texas - no one but alligator farmers and scientists are allowed permits to care for American alligators, which can grow up to 14 feet.
He said his wife finally convinced him get rid of the alligator, and the first phone call the family made was to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.
But staff there were still reviewing whether they would accept the alligator. If they do, it wouldn't go on permanent display.
The zoo's reptile house typically fields two to three calls a week from animal owners looking to get rid of snakes, iguanas or alligators - mainly common green iguanas.
Adams said the owners often think the zoo will buy the common animals from them and then put the animals on permanent display, neither of which happens. http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/alligator_87857___article.html/foot_zarate.html 21 June 08 Alligator sunbathes at NY pool
A family in New York's Dutchess County got an unwelcome surprise when they tried to go for a swim in their backyard.
They found a 4.5 foot/1.4 metre alligator sunbathing on their pool cover. The soon re-captured alligator had escaped from a nearby petting zoo, but the zoo's owner didn't warn anyone. http://wcbstv.com/local/alligator.pool.dutchess.2.753682.html 21 June 08 Freed from jaws of crocodile
From Zimbabwe, crocodile attack survivor Dorothy Mukwengwa recounts her story.
While crossing the Mukuvisi River at a knee-high fording site, she was knocked over by a tail swipe by a hidden croc and submerged.
"The reptile then took me by the waist and tried to drown me. But I resisted. I thought I was going to die, but I put my life in God's hands. I managed to hold on, although I do not remember how I fought back," she said.
Armed with a dry reed, her uncle leapt into the river and stabbed the crocodile in the eye and the reptile was forced to immediately let go of Mukwengwa and retreated into the safety of the river. http://www1.sundaymail.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=542&cat=14
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