HERPDIGEST Sunday March 27, 2005

-- The First Electronic Newsletter Dedicated Only To
Reptile And Amphibian Conservation And Science 
  - Volume # 5 Issue  # 36  
Allen Salzberg -- Publisher/Editor
____________________________________________________________________
The Answer To The Most Frequently Asked Question In The Past Two Months:
"Is There A Grandfather Clause With Subscriptions, For Those Who Made
Recent Donations (6 months)?"
For the Answer See Below
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______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents

1) Trends in Sex Ratios of Turtles in the United States: Implications of
Road Mortality
2) Sea Turtles at Rest
3) Florida. Crocodiles On The Rebound, Will Lose Endangered Species
Status
4) New York Turtle & Tortoise Society 2005 Turtle Poster Contest
5) Research Experience for Undergraduates at Stone Laboratory Summer
2005
6) Lizard Field Assistants Needed
7) Predicting the Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting
Habitat
8) Stalking the Wildlife in the Living Room
_____________________________________________________________________
Just a few of the Turtle TV Highlights DVDs are left, Go to  
http://www.herparts.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=CD+TURTTV
As well as Turtle TV's "A Very Turtle Christmas" a Turtle DVD and Greeting
Card in One.  Go to
http://www.herparts.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=DVD+TVXCARD for more
information. 
____________________________________________________________________
1) Trends in Sex Ratios of Turtles in the United States: Implications of
Road Mortality
James P. Gibbs* And David A. Steen+
Conservation Biology
Volume 19 Issue 2 Page 552  - April 2005
Affiliations
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and
Forestry, 350 Illick Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, U.S.A.
Correspondence
*email jpgibbs@syr.edu+Current address: Joseph W. Jones Ecological
Research Center, Route 2, Box 2324, Newton, GA 39870, U.S.A.

Abstract:
Road mortality has been implicated as a significant demographic force in
turtles, particularly for females, which are killed disproportionately on
overland nesting movements. Moreover, the United States' road network has
expanded dramatically over the last century. We therefore predicted that
historical trends in sex ratios of turtle populations would be male
biased. To test this prediction, we synthesized published estimates of
population-level sex ratios in freshwater and terrestrial turtles in the
United States (165 estimates for 36 species, published 1928-2003). Our
analysis suggests that the proportion of males in populations has
increased linearly (p= 0.001); the trend in male bias is synchronized with
the expansion of the surfaced portion of the road network since 1930; sex
ratios became more male biased in states with higher densities of roads;
and populations have become mo
 re greatest, and are least biased in semiaquatic and terrestrial species,
in which overland movements are more comparable between sexes. Our results
suggest an ongoing depletion of breeding females from wild turtle
populations over the last century because of many factors, including, and
perhaps chiefly, road mortality.

To cite this article
GIBBS, JAMES P. & STEEN, DAVID A. (2005)
Trends in Sex Ratios of Turtles in the United States: Implications of Road
Mortality. Conservation Biology 19 (2), 552-556. doi: 10.1111/
j.1523-1739.2005.00155.x

Copy of this article is available upon request to
asalzberg@herpdigest.org
________________________________________________________________________
2) Sea Turtles at Rest
3/22/05 The New York Times, Observatory Column

Freshwater turtles are known to hibernate, burying themselves in the mud
underwater for long periods in winter. A few sea turtles are thought to
hibernate, but the evidence has been inconclusive, at best.
Fresh data from British and Italian researchers, published in Biology
Letters, casts new doubt on whether any sea turtles spend months on the
ocean floor, their metabolic needs sharply reduced. The evidence comes in
the form of diving records obtained for a loggerhead turtle outfitted with
a depth recorder.
The turtle spent the winter of 2002-03 in the Ionian Sea between Italy and
Greece. Water temperatures there fall below 60 degrees, which is thought
to be the threshold for hibernation state. So the researchers assumed the
turtle would hibernate.
Instead, they found it made numerous dives. While some were nearly seven
hours long, and the turtle spent much time at the bottom, it always needed
to come up for air. It maintained its normal aerobic metabolism, never
entering a reduced-oxygen state.
___________________________________________________________________
3) Florida. Crocodiles On The Rebound, Will Lose Endangered Species
Status
By David Fleshler, Staff Writer, South Florida Sentinel
March 25, 2005

The American crocodile, once among the most imperiled animals in the
United States, has rebounded so robustly that the federal government
announced plans Thursday to cease classifying it as endangered.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed upgrading the crocodile's
status from endangered to threatened, a change that would recognize the
crocodile's improved prospects while leaving its legal protection
intact.

Once reduced to a last stronghold in northeastern Florida Bay, the
crocodile has reclaimed some of its old territory, extending its range up
both coasts of Florida. A crocodile recently showed up in a lake at the
University of Miami's campus in Coral Gables. Occasional reports of
crocodiles come from Fort Lauderdale and the West Lake section of
Hollywood. The number of crocodiles in South Florida rose to as many as
1,000 from a low point in the 1970s of fewer than 300.

"The population as a whole appears to be doing better," said Britta
Muiznieks, Upper Keys recovery biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. "We no longer believe the species is in imminent danger of
extinction."

By the early 1970s, before the crocodile came under federal protection, it
was dying out. Condominiums and hotels covered most of its old habitat
along the coasts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. In its last
stronghold in northern Florida Bay, people shot crocodiles "for sport"
from passing boats, a practice that accounted for about half of
human-caused crocodile deaths in the early 1970s, according to research
cited by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

By the time the crocodile went on the endangered species list in 1976, the
population had declined to between 200 and 300, with just 10 to 20
breeding females.

Biologists attribute the crocodile's resurgence to a federal recovery
effort, environmental restoration work at Everglades National Park, and
the unintentional construction of excellent crocodile habitat in an
illegal dredging operation in Key Largo and in the cooling canals of the
Turkey Point nuclear power plant.

"Unwittingly at the time, actions taken for entirely different purposes
created crocodile habitat," said Frank Mazzotti, wildlife biologist at the
University of Florida, who has done much of the research on the American
crocodile.

But the federal protection led to an intense recovery effort. The
endangered-species designation meant it was a felony to shoot one. The
last known shooting took place in 1991.

The federal government acquired 5,000 acres of land for the Crocodile Lake
National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing miles of illegally dredged canals
that turned out to be superb crocodile habitat. Everglades National Park
plugged canals, allowing crocodiles to nest on the berms.

And Turkey Point's cooling canals, built in 1974, began attracting
crocodiles. Managed by Florida Power & Light to enhance habitat for
crocodiles, the canals now support the second-largest nesting population
in the United States.

Shy and elusive, inhabiting remote mangrove swamps and creeks in Key Largo
and the southern tip of mainland Florida, the crocodile crawls into public
view far less frequently than its more numerous cousin, the alligator. But
its resurgence raises the possibility of more encounters between
crocodiles and people.

While there have been no documented attacks by American crocodiles on
human beings in the United States, the same species has occasionally
attacked and killed people in other countries.

In Costa Rica and Mexico, where the few attacks took place, American
crocodiles grow much larger than their counterparts in the United States,
Mazzotti said. And as a whole, he said American crocodiles are much less
aggressive than alligators. They could pose a threat to pets, he said, but
probably not to people.

Still, he urged federal officials to prepare an education campaign to
teach people to stay away from crocodiles, to not panic at the sight of
them and to avoid feeding them to prevent them from losing their fear of
people.

Mazzotti said there's little risk of an attack on people. But he expressed
concern about how people will react to the arrival of large, toothy
reptiles near their homes.

"I'm not sure humans in Florida are ready for the recovery of the American
crocodile," he said. "It certainly is one of the least-aggressive species.
Far from a fearful thing, it's a natural history wonder and a sign that
the Endangered Species Act does work."

For those who would like more information on the government's rational and
their five- year plan email me at asalzberg@herpdigest for a copy of the
several page announcement in the Federal Register.  

After reading the report, comments should be directed to the Field
Supervisor, South Florida Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida. 32960, until May
23, 2005. No public hearing is planned, but if enough people write in
requesting a hearing they might set one up. Those requests must be mailed
to the above address by May 9, 2005. For more information, call (772)
562-3909.
________________________________________________________________ 
4) New York Turtle & Tortoise Society 2005 Turtle Poster Contest
Press Release. 3/24/05

The earliest turtles can be traced back to the time of the dinosaurs, over
200 million years ago.  Turtles and tortoises are living fossils that have
survived and adapted to monumental natural changes, but now they are
endangered by human activities.  Unless serious conservation measures are
taken, many of worlds 300+ species will face extinction.

The contest encourages children and adults to explore the threats
affecting the turtles and tortoises of the world and to propose possible
ways to help save these unique creatures.  Past contests have received
over 1,000 entries from all 50 states, Canada, and Bermuda.  A list of
winners of the 2004 Poster Contest will be online soon.

This is a wonderful project for interdisciplinary learning, linking the
creativity of art design with scientific inquiry and literacy.  Through
creating posters, we hope to make people more aware of the problems facing
turtles and encourage their creative abilities to develop possible
solutions to the threats affecting these interesting animals.

Official Poster Contest Rules

    * The contest is open to children and adults, pre-kindergarten through
college.
    * The poster should focus on one species of turtle or tortoise from
anywhere in the world and the threats that are affecting its survival.
Some examples might include, but are not limited to, habitat destruction,
excessive collection for food or the pet trade, pollution, and the release
of sick animals (such as pet turtles) to the wild.
    * Contestants are strongly urged to conduct research on the species
they have chosen.
    * Each poster should have an illustration or picture as well as a
written slogan or message.
    * Posters should be created on a heavy-weight poster board and may
measure either 12" x 18" or 18" x 24" in size.
    * Suggested mediums include magic markers, inks, paint, or collage.
    * Name, address, phone number, age, grade, and the name of the school
and teacher (where appropriate) must be clearly printed on the back of the
poster.
    * All entries must be post-marked by June 1, 2005. 

Entries should be mailed to:
Turtle Poster Contest, c/o Lorri Cramer/New York Turtle and Tortoise
Society/
750 Columbus Avenue, Suite 4W/New York, NY 10025, USA

Entries will be grouped according to age and grade level for judging.  All
entries will be judged by a panel of conservationists, artists and
teachers on the basis of content, originality, and artistic merit.

Prizes will include a $100.00 savings bond for the Grand Prize Winner,
plus official Turtle and Tortoise Society T-shirts, books, stickers, and a
one-year membership to the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society.  The
semifinalists will be exhibited at the 31st Annual Turtle and Tortoise
Show in New York City in June 2005, and winners will be announced in
October 2005. All posters become the property of NYTTS.

If you have questions concerning appropriate subject matter and rules,
please e-mail Lorri Cramer: LorriC@nytts.org.
_________________________________________________________________
5) Research Experience for Undergraduates at Stone Laboratory Summer
2005

A summer research opportunity for 5-10 undergraduate students at Stone
Laboratory, Ohio State University's north coast campus and Ohio's Lake
Erie Laboratory on Gibraltar Island at Put-in-Bay.

Each successful applicant will receive a full scholarship covering tuition
and room and board for one term (4.5 weeks) at Stone Laboratory during the
summer of 2005.  Successful applicants will participate in one of the
Laboratory's 5-credit-hour term courses offered Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  On their 3 "off days" the
students will work on a herpetology research project dealing with snakes
or a limnology research project dealing with the dead zone (area of
anoxia) within the Central Basin of Lake Erie.  Students will receive 3
hours of individual study credit for their work on the research
projects.

Applicants should specify their preference for term (first term June 19 -
July 20; second term July 21 - Aug 20) and course (see web site
http://www.sg.ohio-state.edu/SLAB/ for course offerings) at the Laboratory
and their preference for the research topic (herpetology or limnology). 
Applicants should have completed at least their freshman year to be
eligible for this program.

Applicants can apply for one or both terms (if space and funding is
available).
To apply, send:
1) transcripts for all college courses
2) career goal statement (1000 words max.)
3) personal resume (2 pages max)
4) two letters of recommendation faculty members or advisers who can
attest to your academic performance

To: Dr. Jeffrey M. Reutter, Director/Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea
Grant/The Ohio State University/1314 Kinnear Rd./Columbus, Ohio
43212/Reutter.1@osu.edu
614-292-8949/614-292-4364 (fax)/www.sg.ohio-state.edu

Applications must be received in by 5:00 EST on 27 April 2005.  Successful
applicants will be notified on 29 April.

For more information regarding the REU in herpetology, students may e-mail
Kristin Stanford directly at theislandsnakelady@yahoo.com
__________________________________________________________________________
6) Lizard Field Assistants Needed

Job Description: 
2-3 people are needed to assist a UCLA graduate student in a study of
brown anoles on the island of Great Exuma, Bahamas. The project aims to
understand how humans are impacting natural populations of brown anoles
through habitat alteration. The data collected during this upcoming field
season will help determine the role of natural selection in driving
intraspecific morphological variation.  The primary responsibility
of the field assistants will be to catch large numbers of lizards for a
mark-recapture study. Other responsibilities will include data entry and
logistical support.

Duration: June 6- July 7

Qualifications: Applicants must have experience working in the field and
must be proficient in Excel. Experience capturing and handling lizards is
strongly preferred. Applicants must be incredibly motivated and have
outstanding patience and focus.

Benefits: Food and lodging will be provided.  The living conditions are
extremely good compared to most field situations: hot showers, full
kitchen, air conditioning, and proximity to beaches! 

Additional Requirements: Selected applicants must pay for their airfare to
and from George Town, Great Exuma (from $300 to $600 depending on city of
origin).

To Apply: Please email (preferred), fax, or mail your cover letter, CV or
detailed resumé and a list of 3 references to Erin Marnocha/Department of
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology/University of California Los Angeles/621
Charles E. Young Dr. South
Box 951606/Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606/fax. 310-825-5446/email:
erinlea@ucla.edu
__________________________________________________________________________
____ 
7) Predicting the Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting
Habitat Conservation Biology/Volume 19 Issue 2 Page 482  - April 2005
doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00146.x
 
Marianne R. Fish*+, Isabelle M. Côté*++, Jennifer A. Gill*+, Andrew P.
Jones+, Saskia Renshoff§, And Andrew R. Watkinson*+

Abstract: 
The projected rise in sea level is likely to increase the vulnerability of
coastal zones in the Caribbean, which are already under pressure from a
combination of anthropogenic activities and natural processes. One of the
major effects will be a loss of beach habitat, which provides nesting
sites for endangered sea turtles. To assess the potential impacts of
sea-level rise on sea turtle nesting habitat, we used beach profile
measurements of turtle nesting beaches on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles,
to develop elevation models of individual beaches in a geographic
information system. These models were then used to quantify areas of beach
vulnerable to three different scenarios of a rise in sea level. Physical
characteristics of the beaches were also recorded and related to beach
vulnerability, flooding, and nesting frequency. Beaches varied in physical
characteristics and therefore in t
  0.5-m rise in sea level, with lower, narrower beaches being the most
vulnerable. Vulnerability varied with land use adjacent to the beach.
These predictions about loss of nesting habitat have important
implications for turtle populations in the region.

Affiliations

*School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4
7TJ, United Kingdom+School of Environmental Sciences, University of East
Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United KingdomTyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom§Sea
Turtle Club Bonaire, P.O. Box 492, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Correspondence
++Address correspondence to I. M. Côté, email i.cote@uea.ac.uk
To cite this article
FISH, MARIANNE R., CÔTÉ, ISABELLE M., GILL, JENNIFER A., JONES, ANDREW P.,
RENSHOFF, SASKIA & WATKINSON, ANDREW R. (2005)
Predicting the Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting
Habitat.
Conservation Biology 19 (2), 482-491.
doi: 10.1111/
j.1523-1739.2005.00146.x

For a copy of this article email us at asalzberg@herpdigest.org
________________________________________________________________________
8) Stalking the Wildlife in the Living Room
March 27, 2005, By Barry Rehfeld, The New York Times

When Cynthia Letterman, 56, a retired aerospace engineer, opens her home
to visits from her 4 children and 14 grandchildren, it could become a zoo
- if it weren't one already. Among the inhabitants are coatimundis,
kinkajous, fennec foxes, sugar gliders, ring-tailed lemurs, marmoset
monkeys, eclectus and sun conure parrots, as well as a prairie dog named
Fido.

"They're my babies," says Ms. Letterman, who lives in Bay City, Tex., and
who owned just a couple of dogs while rearing her first family. "I always
wanted something different when I retired."

Ms. Letterman and her 31 "babies" are hardly a typical American household.
Just the five-figure total purchase price, along with $600 a month in
maintenance for her exotic pets and for a housekeeper who helps with them,
would be too much for many people. Food takes up two-thirds of her budget
for the animals, and much of her time. She must shop for fresh fruit and
vegetables every other day and regularly order monkey biscuits, live
crickets, grasshoppers and worms. The rest goes for toys and cleaning. Not
counted is $15,000 to $20,000 she is spending to finish building a
separate aviary and playhouse for her animals.

Then there is the bad press that wildlife ownership has received in recent
years, which would seem to discourage even an inquiry into the
pronunciation, much less the purchase, of a raccoonlike coatimundi.

There have been stories about a ferret that starved to death in the home
of Mike Tyson, the boxer, and about a tiger that killed a 3-year-old
child, crocodiles abandoned in urban Ohio parks, venomous snakes left in a
crate along an Arkansas road and, most notably, prairie dogs at the
infectious center of the monkeypox outbreak two years ago.

Yet while dogs and cats are still the companions of choice, pet dealers
and animal welfare advocates agree that whatever the costs, exotic pets
are becoming common in American homes. In 2002, some 168,000 pot-bellied
pigs, for example, were kept as pets in the United States, according to
the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The Humane Society of
the United States estimates that as many as 7,000 tigers are kept as pets
- dwarfing the roughly 2,500 running wild in India.

Exotic pets are now popular enough that trends have emerged. For instance,
Vietnamese potbellied pigs, which were hot a decade ago, have cooled
because of an oversupply. At the same time, sugar gliders - irresistibly
cute Australian marsupials that sell for $100 and up and are marketed as
handy pocket pets - have become more familiar stocking stuffers in recent
years.

Fueling the popularity of exotic pets are new designer animals bred
specifically for visual splash. Spectacularly colored boas and pythons
bred in the United States are fashion statements costing more than $5,000
each, while another expensive creation, the Savannah - the offspring of
Africa's serval, a wildcat, and the domestic house cat - is more of a
conversation piece than the free tabby from the local animal shelter.

The popularity of exotic pets is also being driven by an abundance of
outlets, like pet shops and wildlife shows, where imported animals and
those bred in captivity are sold. Magazines like Animal Finders' Guide
specialize in advertisements for creatures of all kinds, and Web sites
like KingSnake .com are used by buyers and sellers alike.

These developments alarm wildlife professionals like Lynn Cuny, director
of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, an animal protection facility in
Kendalia, Tex. "There's not really an animal you can't find if you have
the money and can do the searching," she said, adding that the number of
exotic animals in human hands was reaching "crisis" proportions. Too many
owners know too little about what they are getting into, she said, and
give up when they can't care for the animal. Sometimes, she said, they
just lose interest. Nor are there many laws regulating what people can own
and what they can do with their pets; existing laws vary widely from state
to state. The only federal legislation to address the issue is the Captive
Wildlife Safety Act, passed two years ago, which bans the interstate trade
of lions, tigers and other big cats.

Fans of exotic pets do not deny that there can be horror stories. Randal
Berry has experienced them firsthand. An owner of snakes for 47 of his 53
years, he is the reptile keeper at the Little Rock, Ark., zoo; in that job
last year, he had to adopt that discarded crateful of venomous snakes.
Still, he says he does not believe that the irresponsibility of some
owners should affect someone like him. He says he has a "24/7" commitment
to his animals. His basement is filled with dozens of snakes in cages,
with no designer breeds among them. He and his wife, Bonnie, who has an
equal passion for tortoises, put on reptile shows across four states.

His wife, who says she favors common sense when dealing with reptiles,
like washing one's hands after handling them, added: "Think of all the
stories you hear about pit bulls. There are always two sides."

Suzette Stidom, owner of S&S Exotic Animals in Houston, has a red kangaroo
named Jake that watches "Animal Planet" on television from her living-room
couch. Ms. Stidom agrees that exotic pets are not for everyone and says
she always questions prospective customers carefully.

"It's not a spur-of-the-moment purchase," said Ms. Stidom, who sells
birds, reptiles, spiders and small animals. "Buyers should have looked
around. I'm in it for good, and I'm not getting rich doing it. You have to
do your research. Make sure you can afford it for the life of the animal.
Take into consideration having kids around them, if you have them or are
going to. I don't have any. These are mine."

There are various factors to consider in buying an exotic animal: Many
large animals have long life spans, so owners need to consider who will
take care of them if the owner cannot. And some animals do not adapt
easily to new owners.

Kenneth Hetrick and his wife, Roberta, are getting a glimpse of the future
for exotic pet owners. Mr. Hetrick, a police officer outside Toledo, Ohio,
grew up in Florida surrounded by large animals like cougars, and over the
last 35 years has collected more than two dozen animals including tigers,
lions, bears, wolves and leopards, plus a hybrid jungle cat known as a
liger that is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. Cubs of his
Siberian tigers earned him a bit of celebrity - and money - for growing up
to take on Russell Crowe's character in the movie "Gladiator."

THE Hetricks say they walk without fear past electrified fences into the
animals' pens, which are set on five acres. They show a lot of affection
for the animals, even though Mr. Hetrick survived an attack by a male
grizzly and its pregnant mate that required 300 stitches in his back and
arms, had his leg broken by a tiger that didn't care for his company at
dinner and, worst of all, was bitten by a monkey, leaving him with blood
poisoning and requiring him to spend two weeks in the hospital. Ms.
Hetrick had to have her hand reattached after nearly sawing it off while
butchering meat for the animals.

The future is uncertain, largely because of their advancing age - he is
61, she is 60 - and the increasing difficulty of finding food for the
animals. To supplement the animal food they buy, the Hetricks rely heavily
on surrounding farms for free meat, generally dead horses and cows. But
with fewer farms in their area, it is becoming harder for them to keep the
animals fed. Early this month, when food was running low, a farmer they
didn't know showed up with a dead Clydesdale.

"It was like an angel had come from nowhere," Mr. Hetrick says. Still, it
was hard work taking in the huge horse, and he still faces the draining
prospect of driving four hours to get food from distant farms.

Nor can they count on their grown children. "Oh, they loved playing with
them when they were cubs," Ms. Hetrick says. "But after that, they weren't
any help."

Both the Hetricks are tired of taking care of the animals, but, Mr.
Hetrick says: "You can't get out of it, and there are few people who've
been in it this long. Don't even think about it unless you're rich."
__________________________________________________________________________
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The Answer To The Most Frequently Asked Question In The Past Two Months:
"Is There A Grandfather Clause With Subscriptions, For Those Who Made
Recent Donations?"

People in the non-profit world say there shouldn't be, but I feel a bit
different. Why? Because of the circumstances of when the financial plug
was pulled from HerpDigest, right in the middle of a fund-raising
campaign. If I had known earlier of the loss of the grant it would have
been a subscription drive not a fund-raising one. 

So to be fair, people who donated money in the last fund-raiser of the
year in 2004, that ended in October, 2004, who gave at least enough to get
the deck of cards, $35.00 Will get one year free subscription. 

People who donated less can get a subscription by making up the
difference. 

People who would like to take advantage of the 2 year special $65 must
make up the difference. 

People who gave more than $65 get two years.

Anyone who subscribed and donated, the total will be added up and the
subscription will match the amount.

If you have questions please email at asalzberg@herpdigest.org.

Allen Salzberg
Publisher/Editor