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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 09 December 07
11 December 07 The holiday gift that keeps on giving: Give a croc to a needy croc population
The holiday insanity, parking-lot face-offs and shopping-cart races will occur with or without you — but plenty of other causes really do need your support. Instead of maxing out your MasterCard yet again, stop and think. You can actually save money and your sanity, and gift twice: once by donating to a charitable cause and again by dedicating that charitable gift to a friend or loved one.
Give the gift of… a giant water reptile? With so many water habitats around the globe at risk, crocodiles are now an endangered species. Oxfam America (oxfamamericaunwrapped.com) lets you donate a lil’ baby croc to areas where the population has been depleted. http://commongroundmag.com/2007/12/mlls0712.html
12 December 07 Man taken by croc In flood-ravaged PNG
A man has been killed by a crocodile in Papua New Guinea's Oro Province where authorities are warning people to watch out for crocs and snakes displaced by recent heavy flooding.
The man, aged in his 40s, was fishing with a friend on the Wareba River in Ambasi district on Monday when he was taken by the crocodile.
His friend ran to Iwaie village to raise the alarm but a search of the river using fishing nets only recovered the dead man's intestines, police said. http://news.theage.com.au/man-taken-by-croc-in-floodravaged-png/20071212-1gk7.html
12 December 07 Crocodile attack in Zimbabwe
A 19-year-old Nyabira man died recently after being attacked by a crocodile while swimming with his friends in Zimbabwe's Darwendale Dam. http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=28209&cat=1 12 December 07 21 rare gharials Die mysteriously in India
At least 21 endangered gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) have died mysteriously in a river sanctuary in central India, raising fears that one of India's last unpolluted waterways has become toxic.
Wildlife officials discovered the bodies of one male and 20 female ghariyals in the Chambal River over the last three days.
Scientists said it appeared that either the water or fish, the ghariyals' main food, were contaminated as there were no signs of injuries to any of the animals. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2007/ December/subcontinent_December426.xml§ion=subcontinent&col= 11 December 07 Plzen zoo gets rare Siamese crocodiles
The Czech Republics' Plzen zoo has acquired three young Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis) from Zurich, thereby becoming the only Czech zoo to keep this endangered reptile..
The keepers hope that the crocodiles might start breeding after they grow adult in five years. http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/231/life_in_the_czech_republic/15826/ 09 December 07 A 12-foot reason in favor of Golf carts over walking
There have been occasions during the author's time as a writer at WorldGolf.com where he has suggested that walking a golf course is a superior experience over riding ... except when there's a gator on the fairway!
On my native Michigan courses, you're never face-to-face with an animal that could eat you if it desired. So I'm a sitting duck down here. I watch far too little Discovery Channel to know what to do if the alligator had made a move at me. If he came after me and I had a golf cart, I would speed off in some zig-zags or maybe climb on top of the roof (Can alligators climb? Again, don't watch enough Discovery...). http://www.worldgolf.com/blogs/brandon.tucker/2007/12/09/a_ 12_foot_reason_in_favor_of_golf_carts_
10 December 07 Mozambique may export croc products
Research is being carried out in Mozambique to determine the size of the crocodile population and to evaluate the potential of exporting products derived from the reptiles.
The last comprehensive crocodile census was done in 1989 and the recent demand in the number of companies needing crocodile's products had increased over the years.
Last month authorities said - in one of the worst cases of animal-human conflict - that more than 14 people were killed by crocodiles in the first 15 days of November along the Zambezi River. http://business.iafrica.com/news/716160.htm 10 December 07 The politically incorrect guide to hunting Jamie Glazov conducted an interview for American Thinker with Frank Miniter, a senior editor at Outdoor Life magazine and currently the executive editor of American Hunter magazine. He has hunted on five continents and has won numerous awards for conservation and outdoor writing. He is the author of the new book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting. Miniter comments on the alligator hunting in Florida and Louisiana. http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/the_politically_incorrect_guid.html
09 December 07 Crocs making late start to nesting season
Across the Top End of the Northern Territory, crocodiles have delayed their nesting this year past their usual November date.
Crocodile expert Graham Webb owns a croc farm and says this year's nesting is late because of the lack of rain.
"The crocs are probably ready to nest but they're waiting for a nice heavy period of rain," he says.
"Then they'll lay, but it means they're carrying the eggs in them, waiting for that trigger and that's not necessarily a good thing."
That is because the eggs will still develop inside the female, and when they are eventually laid they could end up upside down, in effect drowning the young crocodile.
Mr Webb says when egg collecting begins in the wild later this month it is unlikely to diminish the Territory's booming crocodile population, because there's no space for any more crocodiles.
"When nests hatch in the field, probably within the first year or two years, most of those animals are gone and so I don't think it makes any difference," he says. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/09/2113682.htm 07 December 07 New zoo to purchase albino alligator With $10,000 donation
The NEW Zoo of Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA is going to buy one of only about 30 known albino alligators in existence in the United States.
Zoo Director Neil Anderson said the alligator will be purchased from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida and will be brought to Wisconsin in March. An alligator that has been on loan to the zoo from St. Augustine for the past couple years will be returned to Florida at that time.
The purchase is being made with the $10,000 donation from William "Red" Lewis, founder of PDQ Manufacturing, which is headquartered in De Pere.
The zoo had an albino alligator on loan several years ago but the one they'll purchase will be about six years old and four feet long.
07 December 07 Skeleton of giant crocodile to be preserved
KENDRAPARA: Skeleton of an 18-foot-long salt water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) which was found in Khola river in India's Bhitarkanika National Park recently will be preserved in the park.
The crocodile was one of the largest in the park, said Divisional Forest Officer Ajay Kumar Jena.
The reptile was buried near the Crocodile Breeding and Rearing Centre at Dangamal.
“After a few days, a team of herpetologists will do skeletal mounting work by joining the skull and bones of the reptile after unearthing all the bones and skull of the reptile,” added the forest officer.
06 December 07 Penn. cops encounter gator during arrest
This was an arrest with some teeth.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania police were rounding up three robbery suspects in Homewood in the 500 block of North Murtland Avenue last night when they stumbled across a 6-foot alligator in the home's basement.
"Usually, we come across about 4-foot alligators," Lt. Michael Scott said. "Usually, they'll be in aquariums. This thing was roaming around in the basement."
Nobody was hurt, but officers had to call Pittsburgh Animal Control, which took the gator to the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/teenscene/s_541479.html
06 December 07 Crocs loose in Dominican capital May have been smuggled
The crocodiles which have panicked residents of the Dominican capital's Ozama and Isabela rivers’ shores could’ve been smuggled from abroad, as the National Zoo says it hasn’t lost any, or doesn’t need any member of that species.
The newspaper El Nacional reports this morning that Environment Ministry’s Wild Life Department technicians and prosecutors executed search warrants in places suspected of having crocodile nurseries, information which was later confirmed by the director of that agency, Amarilis Polonia.
The species of crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) is common in Florida, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican southwest.
05 December 07 Crocodile mauls Ugandan man
A 20 year-old man bathing on the shores of Uganda's Lake Victoria was mauled and 'eaten' by crocodiles.
A local official declared that 19 residents have been killed by crocs so far this year.
Wildlife authority officials had been to the area but are being accused of being ineffectual. One village official alleging: "They said it was the residents who provoke the 'peaceful' animals. They can not kill them." http://allafrica.com/stories/200712060063.html
04 December 07 Two Florida men, minor Charged with alligator killings
Two Vero Beach men and a juvenile were charged last week with hunting alligator out of season on the St. Sebastian River.
A resident living near the river called 911 at 7:10 p.m. Thursday because he heard gunshots in the area.
A Sebastian Police officer spotted two small, dead alligators in a boat he reported was used by the trio, who were returning to Canoe Launch Cove in Sebastian. One of the suspects, Kenneth Findlay, 21, kicked the gators out of the boat and into the river, according to the report, but that simply added to the charges against him. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/04/2-men-minor-sebastian-face-charges-after-allegedly/
02 December 07 Houston, we have a gator
It was a scary find for some folks in a neighborhood in east Harris County near Houston, Texas.
They found an alligator roaming the streets and it ended up in one family's backyard.
Larry Barnes and his family saw the three foot long gator this afternoon off Waxahachie and Barbara.
They were afraid it was going to hurt
someone so Larry's son grabbed some tape and tackled the
animal. He put the tape over the gator's mouth. They don't
know why it was so far away from water but they're having a
good sense of humor about it.
30 November 07 Chinese alligators goes indoors for winter
Staff in a Conservation Park in East China's Anhui province are busy moving alligators indoors for winter "hibernation. "
Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) normally spend winters in caves, but that often leads to high death rates for their offspring. To make matters worse, alligators in the Park are so densely populated that digging more caves is impossible. So the Park has decided to put alligators indoors this winter. [Photos at URL.] http://www.cctv.com/english/20071130/104139.shtml
30 November 07 Ukraine croc dies After 6 months on the run
DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - A crocodile
that escaped from a travelling circus in Ukraine and evaded
capture for six months died on Friday after two days back in
captivity, officials said.
30 November 07 Alligator man - the next Steve Irwin?
We all know dog owners who happily tell you, while their dog is trying to bite your leg off, that 'he's just trying to be friendly'. But Australian Stewart Parker's pet is one that you really don't want to be friendly to you. That's because Parker, a reptile handler at Ballarat Wildlife Park in Victoria, has an alligator as a pet. Stewart Parker has apparently built a loving bond with Nelson, a three-metre long, 19-year old alligator - as can be seen by the way Nelson rests peacefully in Parkers arms. [Photos at URL.] http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=77739&in_page_id=2 29 November 07 Dominican croc story pans out, Boy wouldn’t go swimming ‘even if paid’
Santo Domingo- The nerves in the capital city barrio La Cienaga were frayed yesterday in the morning when a crocodile was seen on the Ozama’s riverbank, where the resident Rafael Nova affirms seeing it swimming upstream, “and I see that critter coming, and I say: but wait, it has the form of a crocodile, and as we get closer I saw it was pitch black.”
The newspaper Diario Libre reports that as word of the sighting spread throughout the barrio, its residents expressed their fear. "I wouldn’t go swimming again even if they paid me," said Kelvin, a minor who lives there.
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