WASHINGTON (AP) — Even the king cobra is “vulnerable.” More than 1 in 5 species of reptiles worldwide are threatened with extinction, according to a comprehensive new assessment of thousands of species published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — A rehabilitated green sea turtle was released back to the ocean in the Florida Keys on Friday to mark Earth Day.
Several hundred onlookers watched on Marathon’s Sombrero Beach as staff from the Keys-based Turtle Hospital released “TJ Sharp,” a 65-pound (30-kilogram) juvenile sea turtle that was rescued in February.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California man is accused of smuggling more than 1,700 reptiles — including baby crocodiles and Mexican beaded lizards — into the U.S. since 2016, authorities said Thursday.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and snakes hidden in his clothing, authorities said Tuesday.
The man was driving a truck when he arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico on Feb.
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — Just in time for sea turtle mating season in the Florida Keys, a rehabilitated male loggerhead turtle was released Friday off Pigeon Key.
“Sheldon,” named by his U.S. Coast Guard rescuers, was discovered earlier this month near the Old Seven Mile Bridge.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Federal officials have concluded that Sonoran desert tortoises native to Arizona have a relatively stable population that doesn’t need protection from environmental threats but conservation groups say they’re still not convinced that the reptiles’ well-being is a sure thing.
PALU, Indonesia (AP) — A wild crocodile with a used motorcycle tire stuck around its neck for six years has finally been freed by an Indonesian bird catcher in a tireless effort that wildlife conservation officials hailed as a milestone Wednesday.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that it is proposing threatened status for alligator snapping turtles -- huge, spike-shelled reptiles that lurk at the bottom of lakes and slow waterways, luring prey to their mouths by sticking out a wormlike lure.
BAZOULÉ, Burkina Faso (RNS) — The small live chicken, offered as a lure to get the crocodile to come out of the lake, barely convinced the massive male reptile to the water’s edge. The croc, himself the lure for the sprinkling of visitors who had come 20 miles from the capital, Ouagadougou, to pose with the beings held sacred by locals, seemed disinterested in tourists and chicken alike.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Once-endangered alligators are thriving in the wild, so Louisiana authorities are proposing a deep cut in the percentage that farmers must return to marshes where their eggs were laid.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Al Wolf is used to clearing one or two snakes from under houses but recently was called by a woman who said she had seen rattlesnakes scurry under her Northern California house and was surprised to find more than 90 rattlesnakes getting ready to hibernate.
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — A large loggerhead sea turtle rehabilitated at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital was flown by private plane Sunday to live at a conservation facility in Texas.
The 230-pound female turtle took the nearly five-hour flight from the Middle Keys to South Padre Island, Texas, with the help of “Turtles Fly Too,” a nonprofit group that works with general aviation pilots who donate their aircraft, fuel and time to provide emergency transport for endangered species.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Eight hatchlings from one of the world’s rarest crocodile species have been found in a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Cambodia, raising hopes for its continuing survival in the wild.
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman who was floating on a paddleboard in the Silver River used her paddle to push away a large alligator that swam directly toward her in a frightful, up-close encounter captured in startling videos and photographs.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah reptile center employee is recovering after an alligator yanked her into its enclosure during a presentation, thrashing her around before a fast-acting visitor leapt inside and helped free her from its jaws.
PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) — A young alligator traced to the Louisiana bayous traded swamp scum for a sandy Padre Island beach in South Texas.
In an unusual spin from “Jaws,” the gator showed up Monday on Malaquite Beach, about 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) southeast of Corpus Christi, Padre Island National Seashore officials said in a Facebook post.
MIAMI (AP) — Officials at Zoo Miami have been welcoming critically endangered baby Orinoco crocodiles over the past week.
The mother laid 45 eggs on Feb. 5 at the South Florida park, and they began hatching last week, the zoo announced on FRANKLIN GROVE, Ill. (AP) — A team of Illinois researchers is using dogs to track down a threatened species of turtle. Researchers believe ornate box turtles, once living in half of Illinois' 102 counties, are found in less than 10...
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — Staff from the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital released a rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle back to the ocean on Thursday to mark Earth Day...
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pythons, iguanas, monitor lizards, oh my! Florida is moving to restrict 16 invasive reptile species that have wreaked havoc in the Everglades and across the state...
BERLIN (AP) — It fits on a human fingertip, but this chameleon could make a big splash.
Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world's smallest reptile...
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong is home to a variety of snakes — from the venomous king cobra to larger species such as the Burmese python...
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — With unexpectedly cold weather in the forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other in recent memory, and it may involve falling iguanas...
Talk about good camouflage!
Scientists say they have found an elusive chameleon species that was last spotted in Madagascar 100 years ago...