Rodney Lewis

Geoemyda spengleri turtle fitted with prosthetic mask �Patches�, a black-breasted leaf turtle at Zoo Knoxville, is now sporting a custom prosthetic mask created for her by veterinarians at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM). The plastic beak was created to protect a hole in her nostril from infection and to make eating easier for the tiny turtle. The endangered turtle came to […]

Ontario Municipal Board rejects condos plan over concerns about impact on wetlands and Blanding’s turtles A developer’s plan to build condos along the northwest shore of Stoney Lake, on a piece of wetland-strewn land considered sacred by local First Nations, has been rejected by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). It took about a year for the OMB to make its decision. The 19-day hearing drew

Bundaberg’s newest mural is ‘turtly’ awesome BUNDABERG has another impressive piece of street art, with a new Tim Phibs mural being completed at Hinkler Central, fittingly of a giant turtle. The enormous, environmentally themed piece was commissioned by Hinkler Central as part of the Crush Festival and to coincide with the arrival of the endangered loggerhead turtles for their annual nesting and hatching season at

Turtle sanctury to be created in Allahabad, India Amid uncertainty over the fate of existing turtle sanctuary in Varanasi, the government has given its go ahead for setting up a new centre to conserve this aquatic creature in Allahabad. Idea of this project – called ‘Developing River Biodiversity Park and Turtle Conservation Programme’ – along Ganga-Yamuna river system in Allahabad is to protect rich aquatic

Released sea turtle carries Tony Amos’s ashes out to sea A rescued green sea turtle named Picasso was released back into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, carrying the ashes of a self-taught Texas oceanographer who founded the rehabilitation center that helped nurse it back to health. Hundreds of well-wishers surged forward to get better views during a sunset ceremony that effectively allowed Tony Amos,

NOAA, 1,000th turtle to be rehabilitated, release in the Hawaiian islands The agency�s fisheries stranding program in Hawaii has been responding to dead or injured sea turtles for more than 30 years. The 1,000th rehabilitated turtle, a 150-pound, sub-adult male, was released Friday afternoon at Maui�s Tavares Bay in Kuau. The Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute rescued the turtle Aug. 21 on a Maui beach

Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) wins endangered species status It may not be surprising that an �aquatic desert� turtle faces long odds in life, but environmentalists and biologists still welcomed this week�s endangered species designation for the Sonoyta mud turtle. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the designation Wednesday, citing threats from climate change to loss of habitat for the southern Arizona animal,

Tennessee Aquarium Researchers Create First Map Of North America�s Turtle Communities Many scientists research turtles at the level of individual species or single habitats, but this study represents the first attempt to consider them on the scale of the entire continent. The map divides North America into 16 bio-geographic �provinces,� sprawling regions containing turtle species with similar or shared characteristics. Looking at these reptiles in

Back from the dead�how to revive a lost species The discovery of DNA links or ‘high ancestry’ to extinct Floreana species of giant tortoise means the mega-herbivore could one day be returned to the island for repatriation via a captive-breeding program � perhaps within the next five years. Professor Luciano Beheregaray, Head of the Molecular Ecology Group at Flinders University, says the conservation effort will