10-foot alligator found in family's pool - upi.com

14 April 2011

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., Members of a Florida family said they were shocked by their beagle's discovery in their back yard pool -- a 10-foot-long alligator.

Annemarie Donovan of New Port Richey said her husband Kenneth came home from lunch Tuesday and spotted the gator when he went out to see why the family's dog, Jake, was barking at the pool, the St Petersburg Times reported Thursday.

"We have been here 20 years and have never seen anything like this," Annemarie Donovan said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent trapper Candy Moniz to catch the reptile. The Donovans said the alligator managed to chip a pool tile during its struggle with Moniz.

Moniz was able to tape the gator's mouth shut and load it into her truck. Officials said the animal would be put down as part of Fish and Wildlife's nuisance policy.

The Donovans theorized the alligator may have come from a retention lake near their home.

"We need to get that screen fixed," Donovan said, "before a rattlesnake comes in."

Pork crackling colourer...??

Unlike what it name says, it's not for colouring crackling at all. Its for crackling paint in a creative way. But it leaves me wondering how does one colour pork cracklings then...?

It's a croc-eat-croc world - ntnews.com.au

10 April 2011

Two Territory fishos photographed this 5m saltwater crocodile having a snack - a 3m saltie, on the Wildman River in Kakadu National Park

A CANNIBAL crocodile has been caught red handed in a Top End river

Two fisherman came across the 5m saltwater crocodile taking a bite of a fellow saltie in Kakadu National Park, about 130km east of Darwin.

Industrial painter Shane Fraser said he was fishing with a friend in Wildman River when they came to a point where there was a lot of debris in the water.

The 35-year-old said they approached the debris and realised there was a crocodile "floating" in the water.

He said as they were peering down at the dead crocodile, a bigger croc appeared from beneath the water.

"It said 'you're not having that,"' he said.

"And it took a bite."

Mr Fraser said the crocodile would have been more than 5m long because his boat was about the same size. "(The dead croc) would have been about 3m," he said.

Mr Fraser and fellow fisherman Craig Beadman took this photo of the croc feasting on a fellow croc on March 13.

"It's a croc eat croc world out there," he said.

Saltwater crocodiles have been reported making a snack of a relative - the freshwater crocodile - but are rarely spotted taking a bite from a brother.

A 5-metre monster was pictured munching on a bull shark in a Kakadu river in June 2010.

Texas Zoo plans to say goodbye to alligators - victoriaadvocate.com

9 April 2011

Adios. Sayonara. Auf Wiedersehen. Au Revoir. Ciao. Aloha.

No matter what language you say it in, The Texas Zoo invites Victorians to come out and say goodbye to their longtime alligators on Wednesday.

The zoo will move its three large alligators to a refuge and bring in two smaller alligators.

"The three large alligators agitate each other and sometimes fight so we are trading them out for smaller ones," said Andrea Blomberg, executive director for the zoo. "I know the alligators are going to a good place."

Gary Saurage, of Country Music Television's reality show Gator 911, will do the gator exchange.

The zoo's current alligators will go to Gator Country, Saurage's refuge park in Beaumont.

Steve Irwin trap saves Cambodian crocodile - newsinfo.inquirer.net

8 April 2011

PHNOM PENH—A critically endangered Siamese crocodile was rescued in Cambodia with a trap designed by late Australian "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, but conservationists on Friday said other reptiles remain at risk.

Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which had spent two years planning the attempt to free about 10 crocodiles trapped by the construction of a hydropower dam, said it was "disappointing" that only one animal was caught.

Rescue workers from Cambodia and Australia tried for weeks to capture the animals isolated in a 750 meter (820 yards) stretch of river in southwestern Pursat province, FFI project manager Adam Starr told AFP.

But just one female crocodile took the bait in the mesh-net trap developed by Irwin, the world-renowned animal expert and environmentalist who was killed by a stingray barb in 2006.

Conservationists said other crocodiles in the colony had sometimes been too wily for Irwin's traps -- swiping the bait without getting caught.

FFI estimates there are just 250 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild, most of them in Cambodia.
The crocodile was transported by helicopter "to a different river 10 kilometers away from the construction site", Starr said.

The healthy female, measuring 2.1 meters, has been in her new environment since March 26.
"For everyone on the team, it was pretty disappointing we only caught one female, especially when we know there are more crocodiles there," Starr said.

He added that they were now taking a break from the labour-intensive and expensive rescue mission before considering their next move.

Zoo animals left to die in cages - bangkokpost.com

8 April 2011

Hundreds of animals were left to die in their cages in the Nakhon Si Thammarat floods because a local zoo had no evacuation plans for them.

Talad Zoo, in Muang district, faced the greatest loss in its 26-year history after more than 100 birds, 50 snakes, five crocodiles and one deer reportedly died in the flood.

The remaining animals, numbering in the hundreds, have had to be crammed together while zoo officials try to salvage the complex.

"The animal deaths are the biggest tragedy since the zoo opened in 1985. The flood came so fast. We had no time to evacuate them. We regret the loss but it was truly unpreventable," said Nattawut Panpob, deputy mayor of Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality. The zoo has been under water since last Saturday _ at one point the flood waters were 3m high.

Zoo staff made every effort to move the animals out of the cages, especially the birds. However, the birds wouldn't fly away because they had become too domesticated. Eventually, the staff had no choice but to leave them in the cages.

After several bouts of heavy rain and low temperatures, the birds, most of them parrots, died.

Staff also had to take the tough decision to let more than 50 snakes drown as it was too risky to move them out.

"We had 11 crocodiles. One died in a cage while the other four were euthanised. We can't locate the rest at the moment. As soon as the water recedes, we will try to bring them back," Mr Nattawut said.

Villagers in several tambons in Nakhon Si Thammarat have reported crocodile sightings and attacks.

Boonnam Boonchan, 66, who lives in Pak Phanang district, said he sustained a leg wound after a 2m-long crocodile lashed him with its tail.

A team of police and villagers later managed to hunt down and kill one crocodile.

The zoo's 50 deers, a tiger and four black bears are safe.

Mr Nattawut said it was hoped the zoo could pump out all of the flood water in the next four days. However, it will not be able to resume operations for at least three months.

It was estimated that flood damage would cost the zoo about 10 million baht.

To cope with future flooding, Mr Nattawut said the zoo would raise the height of its dyke to over 1m. It will also need to formulate an evacuation plan. "We have learned from this tragedy that we should have an evacuation plan for these animals. The flood is something we never thought would happen. We had a big flood before in 1988 but we were able to save the animals. Unfortunately that was not the case this time," he said.

Children capture alligator roaming in San Antonio neighborhood - woai.com

7 April 2011

It was a scary situation for a group of kids playing along a creek behind their home on the Northwest Side Thursday afternoon. The children found an alligator. The alligator is only a few months old, but investigators say it caused a big scare for neighbors near Fredericksburg and Mulberry Streets.

Jacob, Anthony and Ryan Villalobos are the kids who say they found the alligator in a creek between their home and Oak Farms Dairy company. The creek leads into the nearby San Antonio River.

"I went to go tell my mom," said Jacob Villalobos. "She didn't believe me, at first."

The boys say they were determined to do something, especially since they spotted the alligator once before earlier in the week.

"It was floating," said Ryan Villalobos. "We thought it was dead, but it started swimming."

The boys say they decided to act fast and reel in the reptile.

"We threw a piece of bacon on a fishing rod," said Jacob.

The kids say the baby alligator put up a big fight at first.

"I tried reeling it in, and it went underwater," said Ryan. "We waited a few hours and we went back down there."

The fishing rod worked to catch the alligator. The hook was still stuck in its mouth when Animal Care Services picked it up. The staff at Animal Care Services safely removed the wire from the alligator's mouth.

Investigators are now warning neighbors the coast may not be clear in the neighborhood.

"There's also traces of a family that's migrating from one end of Martinez River to the other," said Vincent Medley, Assistant Director of Animal Care Services.

Jacob, Anthony and Ryan admit they are a little nervous. However, they say they will be stuck on alligator watch for now.

The alligator will be turned over to the Game Warden. Investigators advise if you spot an alligator in your neighborhood, leave it alone, and call 311.