1
NEW TAMPA – It was a late night for people who live in the Arbor Greene subdivision in New Tampa.
An alligator was spotted in the neighborhood, hanging out on the side of the road. A trapper had to be called out to haul off the eight-footer.
Several people in the neighborhood came out to watch all the commotion. Even a deputy got involved, holding the gator while the trapper backed his truck up to it.
The world’s rarest snake has slithered back from the brink of extinction, with its numbers increasing 10-fold in the past 15 years, conservationists said today.
Researchers found there were just 50 Antiguan racers (Alsophis antiguae) in 1995, all confined to the eight-hectare Great Bird Island, off the coast of Antigua in the Caribbean.
The snake had been wiped out on mainland Antigua by the mongoose, a species from Asia which had been introduced by humans, while the species had been attacked by black rats which had colonised Great Bird Island.
The harmless Antiguan racers were also killed by people.
But work by conservationists in the past 15 years, including eradication of the rats from a dozen offshore islands, an education programme and reintroduction schemes, has boosted the population to more than 500 snakes.
The range of the snake has increased to 63 hectares and other wildlife has also benefited, the conservation groups involved in the project said.
Caribbean brown pelicans have increased from just two breeding pairs to more than 60 pairs on the first islands to be restored, rare white-crowned pigeons have increased from five pairs to more than 450 pairs and sea turtles and lizards have also been boosted by less predation of their eggs by the rats, the wildlife experts said.
Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and Jersey-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust are among the groups involved in the project to help the Antiguan racer.
Dr Jenny Daltry, senior conservation biologist at FFI, said: “I am proud we proved the pessimists wrong and turned the fortunes of this unique and endearing animal.”
She said the dedication of local volunteers had been key in helping the snake.
Natalya Lawrence, programme co-ordinator with the Environmental Awareness Group, another organisation involved in the Antiguan Racer Conservation Project, said: “Although the population of the racer has grown by leaps, we cannot stop now.
“There is still a need for public awareness, continued monitoring and stronger laws to protect the snake and other endangered species on our islands.”
THIS is the first comprehensive guide to this reptile-rich region. More than 1,000 species are described here, covering identification features, habitat, behaviour, subspecies, distribution and status. There are 74 specially commissioned colour plates of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, tortoises and turtles by top wildlife artists. Many species are being depicted for the first time, and in meticulous detail. The author is a professor of herpetology at the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
NEW DELHI, November 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Delhi along with Global Wildlife Conservation, the Natural History Museum (London), the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Conservation International announced today an exciting new partnership to search for long lost amphibian species in India. The details of the new campaign, called LOST! AMPHIBIANS of INDIA (LAI), was revealed to the world through the Internet ( http://www.lostspeciesindia.org) with a series of educational videos, social media postings, and the release of a declaration of global support to follow asking individuals to sign on to the mission to find and protect these threatened and near-extinct species.
Now is the time to act and show our support for these species of India before they shift from lost to extinct, said Conservation International’s President, Dr. Russell Mittermeier.
On November 2, 2010, the Minister of Environment, Shri. Jairam Ramesh, and other top officials from India’s environmental agencies will meet with LAI partners to plan the actions necessary for India’s most imperiled amphibians. This meeting and subsequent actions have already received funding from Indian government agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and others. However, greater investment will be critical to the creation of a network of new protected areas.
India has more lost amphibian species, 48 in total, than any other country in the world. Most of these species have not been seen by scientists for decades, with some missing for over 150 years. The majority of these species are known only by a single preserved specimen in a jar at either the Natural History Museum in London or the Zoological Survey of India. Worse yet, at least 17 lost species exist in name only, having been lost over the past century.
LOST! AMPHIBIANS of INDIA aims to change this by organizing top teams of researchers from India and around the world to explore India’s remaining wilderness areas, in order to relocate existing populations of these amphibians and assess their conservation requirements. Many of the sites are remote and present the hazards of rugged terrain and monsoon rains. However if the effort to find them is not made now, their habitats may be lost before appropriate conservation actions can be implemented. Only 1.5% of the original forests remain in the Western Ghats and several species are already thought to be extinct; many other parts of the country have even worse habitat loss.
Amphibians are popularly known as environmental barometers. They indicate the state of environmental health. Hence any information about their conservation is extremely vital not only from an amphibian research point of view but also from the perspective of overall nature conservation, explains Delhi University Associate Professor Dr S. D. Biju, who is organizing the LAI project.
In preparation for finding species in need of swift conservation action, LOST! AMPHIBIANS of INDIA is simultaneously initiating discussions to develop the Western Ghats Network of Protected Areas for Threatened Amphibians (WNPATA; http://www.wnpata.org). Protecting the amphibian habitats of India will also benefit communities who depend on forests for the provision of freshwater, erosion control, and sources of livelihood. The LOST! AMPHIBIANS of INDIA campaign is therefore not only a last chance to save some of the planet’s most endangered wildlife, but it will also focus attention on remote, rural communities in India and how they depend on the integrity of the environment for its provision of natural resources.
Saving lost amphibians will impact more than just the species that are the targets of exploration, but also entire unique ecosystems and the people that depend on them. But to save them, first we have to find them. The quest has begun.
# # #
The University of Delhi is a premier university of India and is known for its high standards in teaching and research. The Vice President of India is the University’s Chancellor. The Systematics Lab is a unit of the Department of Environmental Biology and contributes to conservation of amphibians through discovery and documentation of species.
Global Wildlife Conservation improves life on Earth by advancing both academic and applied approaches to conservation research, action, and education. Along with its numerous strategic worldwide partners, GWC is pursuing a common goal: to save plants and animals from extinction and better understand and maintain the natural world and its biological diversity.
The mission of the Natural History Museum (London) is to maintain and develop its collections and use them to promote the discovery, understanding, responsible use and enjoyment of the natural world.
SOURCE: Global Wildlife Conservation
MELBOURNE, Fla. — An Orlando man broke a record by trapping the largest alligator in the state over the weekend.
Tres Ammerman and two of his friends went hunting Sunday night in Lake Washington near Melbourne.
That’s when Ammerman harpooned what he thought was a massive alligator. The reptile tugged and pulled and fought for 30 minutes before Ammerman could find out just how big it was.”He was running, jumping, rolling, fighting and trying to bite up on my boat … I was thinking we got Godzilla here,” Ammerman said.The alligator was 14 feet 3 inches long.Members from Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed that Ammerman’s catch is a new state record.
SAN DIEGO (CN) – The Quechan Tribe claims the Secretary of the Interior rushed through approval of a giant solar power project in the Mojave Desert and ignored potential damage to the tribe’s cultural artifacts and the desert’s sensitive flora and fauna, including an endangered lizard that appears in the tribe’s creation story.
The 709-megawatt Imperial Valley Solar Project will spread 28,360 “SunCatcher” dishes across 6,360 acres of public land, about 14 miles west of El Centro.
The Department of the Interior approved Tessera Solar’s proposal in an Oct. 13 Record of Decision (ROD).
“The public lands that are the subject of the Imperial Valley ROD are within the traditional territory of the Quechan Indian Tribe and contain cultural and biological resources of significance to the tribe, its government, and its members,” the tribe says in its federal complaint.
“The tribe and its members also have an interest in preserving the quality of the land, water, air, fauna, and flora within the tribe’s traditional territory, within and outside the reservation. Specifically, the tribe is concerned with impacts to the habitat of Flat Tailed Horned lizards on lands proposed for development, as the lizard is a central part of the tribe’s creation story.”
In making its “fast-track” decision, the Secretary of the Interior and others omitted reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Federal Land Policy Management Act and other laws, the tribe says.
“Interior arbitrarily placed the IVS Project on an artificial ‘fast-track’ in order to achieve the applicant’s goal of obtaining millions of dollars of federally available financing that purportedly required project approval prior to the end of 2010,” the tribe says.
“Despite Interior and the applicant’s efforts to ‘fast-track’ the review of the IVS Project, Congress did not waive or limit the applicability of any federal laws or regulations related to compliance with NEPA, the NHPA, FLPMA, or other laws with regard to the IVS Project. Full compliance with applicable federal laws is mandatory.”
Tessera Solar will buy 6,600 acres of flat-tail horned lizard habitat to offset land lost to new roads, structures and traffic through the desert, the Bureau of Land Management said in announcing the project, one of the first solar energy developments to be approved on public land.
The Quechans, a Yuman-speaking people, have lived in the Mojave Desert for “thousands of years,” during which they and their “tribal ancestors traditionally occupied, traveled, traded, and utilized resources within a broad geographical area located within the desert lands of modern-day [western] Arizona and Southern California,” according to the complaint. Today the tribe has about 3,500 members.
The tribe’s 45,000-acre reservation sprawls across the Mojave Desert around Interstate 8, and to the south borders on Baja California, Mexico. The area has long been identified as a prime location to develop utility-grade solar energy projects.
“The IVS Project is only one of many large solar and renewable energy projects located on California desert lands that have recently been approved, or are under consideration for approval, by Interior,” the complaint states. “Approximately 1 million acres of land are currently proposed for foreseeable solar and wind energy utility development on Southern California desert lands.”
The tribe wants the project enjoined and the Record of Decision vacated.
It is represented by Frank Jozwiak with Morisset Schlosser in Seattle and Bryan Snyder of San Diego
A kind of family feud has erupted in San Benito County’s rich slice of Central California farmland over plans to build a massive solar power facility in a valley shared by 20 ranchers and organic farmers and some of the rarest creatures in the United States.
Both sides of the dispute insist they are fighting for the same things — protecting the environment and growing the local economy.
County officials — some of them farmers themselves — believe Solargen Energy Inc.’s proposed 400-megawatt solar farm on 5,000 acres just south of San Francisco Bay will be a key part of a new future based, in part, on green technology.
But the small-scale ranchers, farmers and horse trainers who live and work in the misty pastures and furrowed slopes of Panoche Valley believe the old connotation of “green” is worth more.
“They are selling us and a unique landscape out for a measly 50 long-term jobs and $24 million spread out over 20 years,” said Kim Williams, who raises grass-fed pastured chickens in the valley. “That’s pathetic.”
In an effort to hasten construction of the plant, the county recently approved a final environmental impact report that opponents say was faulty.
In addition, despite opposition from the California Farm Bureau, county leaders and the San Benito County Farm Bureau approved the withdrawal of about 6,500 acres in the Panoche Valley from pacts intended to keep that land in agriculture for 10 years, in return for tax breaks under the state’s Williamson Act.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors was expected to approve a conditional use permit for the project, which would cover nearly a third of the valley floor, within a few weeks.
County officials say they are not fast-tracking the project, as detractors suspect.
Many county officials suggested that the valley’s land was of marginal agricultural value, and that concerns about the solar panels’ effect on habitat crucial to the survival of three federally endangered species —the giant kangaroo rat, the San Joaquin kit fox and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard — were overstated.
“The photovoltaic plant looks like nothing more than a vineyard, so the risk to the creatures is insignificant,” said Greg Swett, president of the San Benito County Farm Bureau. “If the blunt-nosed leopard lizard is a standard lizard, it will get out of the way.”
Nancy Martin, president and chief executive officer of the San Benito County Economic Development Corp., would not go that far. But she likes to say, “Now is the time to reinvent ourselves and take advantage of a confluence of opportunities. We cherish our environment, but we also must cherish the people who live here. If we weigh the needs of the lizard against the needs of the people, I think the people win.”
Sensing their pastoral community is slipping away from them, Panoche Valley residents have been studying their legal options in a case that also is being watched by environmental groups, including the Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The arid, wind-whipped Panoche Valley is a checkerboard of vineyards, pistachio orchards and range lands scented with sage and pungent vinegar-bush. Long-eared owls and ferruginous hawks roost in the cottonwood trees edging a perennial stream. Cattle and horses share the flatlands with foxes, badgers, tarantulas, gopher snakes and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, a large, multicolored reptile with bright stripes on its back and a penchant for dashing hundreds of yards at the sound of human voices.
“For years we thought we were far enough away from the powers that be that they would leave us alone,” said Panoche Valley cattle rancher Nenette Corotto, 74. “Now, it seems the county is going down a new rail. It’s a new ball game and we have to survive it.”
United under the banner Save Panoche Valley, the small-scale ranchers and farmers argue that building something on the scale of the Solargen power plant will kill wildlife, spook valuable livestock and clog the valley’s narrow dirt lane — which is subject to flooding after even modest rain — with heavy traffic.
“I have never seen a process as rushed as this one, and it’s happening in the face of real environmental impacts,” said Mike Westphal, a Bureau of Land Management herpetologist. “Those species will not recover if this area is lost.”
While Panoche Valley ranchers rally around their embattled landscape, related pressing issues have been unfolding in the offices of state and federal regulatory agencies in Sacramento and Washington.
Before construction can begin, the project must be permitted by the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a process expected to take several months. It remains unclear whether the project would be eligible for federal loans and stimulus programs scheduled to expire Dec. 31.
In August, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dispatched a letter to the Obama administration urging that it help find a way to expedite endangered species reviews by the Fish and Wildlife Service for several renewable energy projects trying to break ground on private land this year, including Solargen’s. “We need immediate action if these projects are to have a chance of receiving a permit in time to meet this deadline for groundbreaking or the deadline for the Department of Energy loan guarantees,” Schwarzenegger said.
Mike Peterson, president and chief executive officer of Solargen, said the project can be built without federal subsidies. He said the power plant is an ideal fit for the valley, one of the sunniest spots in Central California with direct access to local Pacific Gas & Electric transmission lines. Beyond that, he said, the company has developed a generous mitigation plan, which includes setting aside 23,000 acres as a permanent grazing easement and habitat, most of it outside the valley.
“I believe we will be a benefit to these endangered species,” Peterson said. As for Panoche Valley ranchers and farmers, Peterson said, “I understand their concerns. The sacrifice for them is that the valley will have a change. Truth is, they may have to go out of business.”
That kind of talk rankles Panoche Valley dairyman Ron Garthwaite, co-owner of 4-year-old Claravale Farm.
“You don’t destroy a group of people and their way of life just because you stand to make a little money off of something like this,” Garthwaite said. “County officials are either incredibly stupid or incredibly disingenuous. I suspect the latter. I think they believe that, as individuals, they will somehow gain politically or financially off it. Otherwise, it makes no sense.”
San Benito County Supervisor Reb Monaco, whose district includes Panoche Valley, said Garthwaite missed the point.
“Our small rural county has discovered a new marketable commodity: sunshine,” he said. “Is it risky? Yes. But there are also potential benefits for the county and the world.”
Please click on the forum before you leave and join in the fun.
