Inhospitable habitat, even if herps are kept indoors EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada––Reptile breeder John Makaryshyn, 31, was on May 10, 2022 hit with 37 charges under Canadian federal law and 89 counts of allegedly violating the Animal Protection Act of Alberta in connection with the deaths of 674 reptiles and amphibians whose remains were discovered […]
Reptile diversity study findings are less scary than a snake in your boot
Mainstream reportage focused on the bad news, but reptiles remain likely to outlive us WASHINGTON D.C.––All dinosaurs except birds, all ichthyosaurs, and all pterosaurs are confirmed extinct. Dragons, griffins, and Godzilla are alive and well in human imagination, the only habitat they ever actually occupied. Among the other 10,196 reptile species for whom population and […]
Was Gladys the killer Cane Corso witness to a previous human death?
Behavior & evidence suggest Gladys was not just dumped in the Everglades MICCOSUKEE SERVICE PLAZA, Florida––Was Gladys the Cane Corso or supersized pit bull witness to an earlier human fatality before killing rescue volunteer Pam Robb, 71, on the morning of February 17, 2022? (See Pit bull star of 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida […]
Will captive lions caught in wildfire light a fire under South African legislators?
Promised bill to ban breeding lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots, & bone commerce awaits introduction––and action BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa––Five months after South African minister of forestry, fisheries & the environment Barbara Creecy announced that she would pursue legislation to ban breeding captive lions for cub-petting, trophy shoots, and exports of lion bones for use […]
Florida regulators “put foot down” amid venomous snakes & alligators
Breeding green iguanas, pythons, & tegu lizards will be banned after 2024 TALLAHASSEE, Florida––Trying to lock the Florida swamps decades after green iguanas, pythons, tegu lizards, and countless other reptiles well-adapted to the habitat slithered in, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission on February 25, 2021 voted unanimously to add green iguanas, pythons, […]
Fur sales, wildlife acts, & hiding dog bite history banned in California
Fur-bearing animals & adopters of shelter/rescue dogs win protections SACRAMENTO, California––The new animal-related law in California that Governor Gavin Newsom and mass media said least about, to help protect Californians against recklessly rehomed dogs with bite history, may in the end become the most emulated among the raft of bills sent to Newsom’s desk […]
Two inches of rain means life or death to animals in Kenya
Flash floods broke devastating drought, but not drought cycle menacing wildlife & livestock NAIROBI, Kenya––Just two inches of rain over two days, about what Seattle gets on average in just two weeks, in mid-March 2018 triggered flash floods killing at least 15 Kenyans, marooning six tented camps for wildlife tourists in the Maasai Mara […]
Florida: Bashing the brains out of iguanas as alleged illegal aliens
Iguanas were in Florida first––by 16 million years FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Bashing or shooting the brains out of iguanas essentially for the hell of it would be illegal almost anywhere if done to pets. Braining iguanas in the name of research, however, brought University of Florida wildlife biologist and research coordinator Jenny Ketterlin and 14 […]
Russ Rector, “the feared activist feared even among activists,” dead at 69
Said of marine mammal parks, “We’re all showing our age, but I don’t have to pass building inspections.” FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Russ Rector, 69, a former Ocean World dolphin trainer whose campaigns on behalf of marine mammals later closed Ocean World, unexpectedly died from natural causes at about 10:00 p.m. on January 7, 2018. Though […]
Hurricane Harvey hits hunters & fishers harder than wildlife
Shrimp, sea turtles, “sport fish,” teal & doves all get a break HOUSTON, Texas––As hard as Hurricane Harvey hit humans, pets, livestock, and some of the most vulnerable wildlife along the Gulf Coast of Texas and adjacent part of Louisiana, especially big birds who could not escape from the wind, early damage assessments indicate that […]