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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 11 August 07
16 August 07 Five injured in crocodile attack in Orissa
In India’s Bhitarkanika National Park, five persons were injured in three days following attack by violent crocodiles.
The lethal assault by the preying reptiles and consequent retaliatory attack by humans has become a permanent feature in this part of the state. The continuing mayhem claims about a dozen of human and animal lives each year.
Residents also attacked the preying Saltwater Crocodiles (also known as Indopacific Crocodiles, Crocodylus porosus) injuring at least five of these species since last three months even though there was no official confirmation of reptiles getting injured.
While violent
behavioural instinct of crocodiles is under observation of wildlife
experts, people are of the view that massive upswing in number of
crocodiles has upset their normal food chain.
http://www.kalingatimes.com/orissa_news/news/20070816_crocodile_attack.htm 14 August 07 Smuggled crocodiles overwhelm Cairo zoo
A sudden influx of 265 baby crocodiles seized while being smuggled out of Cairo airport has left a local zoo struggling to deal with the tiny but rapidly growing reptiles.
"I'd say these crocodiles were going to be sold to (Gulf) princes so they could wallow in pools at luxury villas," said an official, who believes they were either caught by fishermen in southern Egypt or born on a secret farm.
The zoo will probably select 10 specimens to be distributed to the country's seven zoos and the rest will likely end up in the Nile -- hundreds of kilometres (miles) to the south of Cairo and safely behind the Aswan high dam.
The
lucrative trade in Nile Crocodiles(Crocodylus niloticus) has
grown rapidly in recent years. In 2001, a Jordanian man was arrested at
Cairo airport with 60 baby crocodiles in a suitcase. In March of
this year, a veiled woman was detained at the Rafah crossing point
between Egypt and the Gaza Strip with two crocodiles firmly strapped to
her body. She confessed to working "to order."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070814/wl_mideast_afp/egyptsaudianimals_070814101107 14 August 07 Emergency phone call Bit of crock, not croc
When the call came in about a gigantic crocodile running wild in Vancouver, British Columbia, six police officers rushed to the scene.
Instead of a 4.5-metre/15-foot alligator, as a panicked male caller described the creature he spotted in his backyard, police found … a 30-centimetre/11-inch lizard known as a bearded dragon.
"Maybe he was
caught up in the moment and maybe that's what led to his inaccuracy
about the size of the 'crocodile,' " said Const. Howard Chow. http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=235ddc48-f9e5-
4e68-8a21-e4aab1125b68&k=40688
16 August 07 Roaming Virginia alligator To be killed when caught
Portsmouth, Virginia police have decided that an alligator citizens say they've spotted is a threat to public safety.
Officers do not
have the equipment to tranquilize the alligator, whose hide is also too
thick. (Video link at
URL below)
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=130363&ran=7461 16 August 07 Two gators removed From NY home
Two 3-foot/metre-long alligators were removed from a Centerport, New York home by the Suffolk SPCA (society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). The owner volunteered the information concerning the alligators and offered to surrender them to the SPCA, whose emergency response agents removed them – there will be no charges.
It is illegal to own an alligator in New York State, unless the owner receives a permit from the town, which Gross said "he would not have received" because he was keeping the reptiles in a home.
The SPCA has
rescued 110 reptiles this year alone, according to a statement.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-lialli0816,0,6246686.story 16 August 07 Look out, gators: 4,500 have OK to hunt you
Opening with
the pithy comment “Hey, gators: It's time to die”, this Florida item
briefly describes the rules associated with the 4,500 gator-hunting
permits being issued for the 2007 season. The state's
alligator population is estimated at 1.5 million.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-vgator1607aug16,0,7877214.story 16 August 07 Hunters set sights on Alabama alligators - Twice as many permits issued as state's second gator season begins Friday
There will be 100 permitted Alabama hunters who will be allowed to hunt alligators in the Delta during the first of two consecutive weekends.
Chuck Sharp, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources District V supervising biologist said the department decided to double the number of permits this year because enforcement personnel felt confident they could handle that many hunters, and biologists believe the Delta alligator population can withstand the increased harvest.
Last year, Alabama became the last state on the Gulf Coast to introduce a hunting season for gators. During the first season, 47 hunters killed 40 alligators, with the largest being a 12-foot, 4-inch male weighing 461 pounds, according to ADCNR records.
"This
hunt is inherently dangerous," Sharp said. "The effects of the tide and
wind on water levels and accessibility when you are out there during the
day are hazardous enough, let alone when you are out there running
around the Delta at night and that's without even considering that you
are hunting the alligator."
http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/sports/1187255738161800.xml&coll=3
16 August 07 L.A.'s famous gator caught after Escaping his pen and exploring
You just can’t keep a good gator down! Reggie the 7 1/2-foot/2.3-metre, 120-pound/54-kilo John Dillinger of semi-aquatic reptiles -- was returned to custody after having busted out of the slammer at the Los Angeles Zoo in California overnight.
Found under a nearby comfortable bush after a 90 minute search, our fugitive went quietly back to his cell while zoo investigators tried to dope out his escape route and tightened security at his luxury cell. Workers added chain-link overhangs to low spots in Reggie's habitat. Zoo authorities said the escapee would be placed under 24-hour watch to ensure he didn't repeat his caper.
"It just goes
to show that he's an extremely healthy, agile animal. We've certainly
learned our lesson, " said Zoo Director John Lewis "He may have a
brain the size of a walnut, but he's outsmarted every man I know," said
Councilwoman Janice Hahn after hearing about Reggie's escape.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-reggie16aug16,0,1376193.story http://www.knbc.com/news/13900686/detail.html
16 July 07
Aligator Reggie opet u bijegu - Aligator koji je postao slavan jer je
više od dvije godine bio u bijegu, opet je nakratko pobjegao iz
zoološkog vrta u Los Anglelesu.
http://www.javno.com/hr/zivot/clanak.php?id=71650 15 August 07 Local man reflects on gator hunting
In Florida, 30-hunt veteran Scott Hutchinson discusses past gator hunts
“The size of gator you are looking for is nine to nine and half feet long,” He said. “That length produces the best meat and enough of a hide for boots.”
“Gator hunting
is a dangerous sport.” http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/ENT13/70815072/-1/frontpagetrack
15 August 07 Three face charges in Florida
For feeding, harassing alligators
In Florida, three men are accused of breaking the law by feeding and molesting alligators. Posing as tourists Florida Wildlife Commission officers caught tour guides breaking the ‘no-feeding’ law, with one actually poking at an alligator's eye. (Video Link at URL below.) http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/face-charges-for-harassing-alligators-in-florida/112665.htm
15 August 07 Gator hunting thrilling, But I'll stay home
A journalist waxes poetic on why he won’t be joining Florida’s 20th annual alligator hunt … described in both health and financial terms.
“The setting, of
course, is way out in the swamps. At night.” “… First, you're dealing with critters that … can chomp with 3,000 pounds per square inch of pressure behind 74 to 80 teeth the size of snow cone cups … Not only are gators powerful, they are blindingly fast. And if their bite isn't bad enough, they're happy to knock your brains loose with a slap of the tail.”
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/COLUMNISTS09/708150372
14 August 07 Queensland stockman Tells of crocodile ordeal
Australian stockman David George has told how he spent a week stuck up a tree near Coen in remote north Queensland bushland, as hungry crocodiles waited below.
While conducting a ‘burn off’ on a cattle station, George “fell straight into a crocodile nest" and then sought refuge in a nearby tree where he stayed for the next week where "Every night I was stalked by two crocs who would sit at the bottom of the tree staring up at me."
14 August 07
Flucht vor Krokodilen - sieben Tage auf dem BaumBelagert von einer Horde
heißhungriger Krokodile hat ein Australier sieben Tage auf einem
Eukalyptusbaum verbracht - und so sein Leben gerettet. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/weltspiegel/Kurioses-Krokodil;art2654,2357540
14 August 07 Veeboer
week in boom voor krokodillen http://www.ad.nl/buitenland/article1584863.ece
14 August 07 Anti-Krokodil Dundee -
Hat nap egy fa tetején http://www.nepszava.hu/default.asp?cCenter=OnlineCikk.asp&ArticleID=939648
13 August 07 Buddhists 'tame' crocodiles in Taiwan
A Taiwan animal trainer has developed a Buddhism-based method to tame the crocodiles.
Due to the method, the predators not only turn peaceful but also allow to brush their teeth and ride their backs, the Ren TV Channel reported in its 24 info. Successful experiments of the crocodile trainer Siu Si Hae have made the Taiwan Zoo popular among the tourists as well as local people. http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=3463
13 August 07 Michigan DNR searches for gator in lake
Michigan residents living near Lake Lenore in Augusta Township have reported seeing a 5-foot/1.5 metre alligator in a nearby private lake. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officers inspected the lake twice last week but could not confirm the sightings. They recommend that people keep children and pets away from the lake.
DNR officers have asked that residents try to
photograph the alligator and email their pictures to the department.
Once DNR officials can confirm it is an alligator, officers will return
to the lake and remove the animal. "We don't have the staff to camp out
there all the time.''
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1187016032310660.xml&coll=2 13 August 07 Tx. girl finds alligator under her home
13-year-old Jonnie Oury nearly bumped noses with a 3 foot 6
inch/metre-long gator that had sought refuge under her house in Texas.
While the Ourys do not know exactly where the alligator came from, they
believe it might have come from a ditch that runs behind their home..
http://www.thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=42c4b9f18b847169
11 August 07 Animal control officer Takes alligator into custody
In Longview, Washington state, USA, a 3-foot/metre-long alligator was on the loose in an urban neighbourhood until the Humane Society could take it into custody. Ken Covault apparently had quite the time trying to convince 911 that what he was seeing was reptilian and not the traditional cat-or-dog.
Animal control staff later learned the alligator, who is between four and five years old, was the pet of a man who lived nearby. Alligators aren't legal pets in Longview, though, so the animal was seized.
The owner, whom
Covault said was quite broken up about losing his pet, was not cited
because Sperry determined he didn't realize his pet was illegal.
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/08/11/area_news/news06.txt 10 August 07 Cold, idiotic, deadly, scaly, lovable alligators - and Reggie - At least the South Bay appreciates its gator.
A California journalist gives his take on the ‘loss of innocence’ concurrent with the decline of alligator wrestling venues; and compares declining tourist interest in Floridian gators to that surrounding California’s own favourite (scaled) son, Reggie.
… “Actually,
nobody actually wrestles gators because the things will tumble you into
the water and kill you. They are stupid, casually vicious, pea-brained
chomping machines incapable of learning or loving, …”
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/columnists/bogert/articles/9080781.html 07 August 07 Croc conservation booth to be featured At world's largest herp gathering
Crocodopolis and the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park will sponsor the Crocodilian Conservation Booth at the 2007 National Reptile Breeders Expo in the Daytona Beach, Florida, August 18 and 19, to raise funds for crocodile conservation. Photo opportunities with an albino American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) will be available for a nominal donation. http://www.crocodopolis.net/newscrocboothdaytona2007.htm
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