Britain’s pet shops are legally selling tens of thousands of wild animals including crocodiles, monkeys and venomous snakes and lizards as “exotic” pets, researchers have found. Most species involved are endangered species, potentially dangerous to humans or highly susceptible to serious welfare problems in captivity, an animal welfare charity said. All were “unsuitable as pets”. […]
Tag: reptiles
British man dies after bite from sea snake off Australia’s north coast
A young British man has died after being bitten by a sea snake while working aboard a fishing trawler off Australia’s northern coast. The 23-year-old was bitten as he pulled up a net around noon on Thursday, when the vessel was about 70 nautical miles south of Groote Eylandt, an island in the Gulf of […]
POLL: Should the keeping of reptiles and amphibians as pets be banned?
Over the past few decades, more and more households have decided to forego adopting a cat or dog and instead have opted to take in a reptile companion. However, vets are split on whether this is a good idea for both humans and the animals themselves. A group of editorials appearing online in the BMJ’s […]
For Species At Risk of Extinction, Size Matters
Scientists have been warning about a sixth mass extinction, and when it comes to species at risk of disappearing, size is going to matter a lot, according to a new study. For the study, which was just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of scientists from the U.S., […]
POLL: Should the use of exotic animal skins for fashion be banned?
From Balenciaga’s £845-a-pair high-top black python trainers for men to a full-length trenchcoat sported by Rihanna, snakeskin – or python in particular – is having something of a fashion moment. Demand for the luxury patterned leather is riding so high that Kering – the company behind big brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen […]
POLL: Should the trade in rare lizard species be banned?
Europe has moved to close a loophole that allows wildlife smugglers to trade in several endangered lizard species, after revelations by the Guardian about the scale of the problem. An EU proposal to strictly regulate the trade in arboreal alligator lizards (Abronia), backed by Mexico, will be debated at the Convention on international trade in […]
Saving the Atlantic Forest would cost less than ‘Titanic’
Want to save the world’s most imperiled biodiversity hotspot? You just need a down payment of $198 million. While that may sound like a lot, it’s actually less than it cost to make the film, Titanic. A new study published today in Science finds that paying private landowners to protect the almost-vanished Atlantic Forest would […]
One lizard, four species: the collared treerunner
Now, that’s a horse of a different color. Or, in this case, a lizard of another species – four species. Recent research suggests that the collared treerunner (Plica plica), previously thought of as one widespread species, is actually four distinct species inhabiting diverse geographical areas east of the Andes in northern South America. “The four […]