Manitoba Garter Gallery

Here is a photogallery of the annual garter snake mating groups up in Manitoba.

Tuatara Problem

Turns out older tuataras will eat hatchlings... (News source.)

Gharial Breeding

The Prague Zoo is starting a breeding program for gharial, the first in Europe. (News source.)

Zoo Breeding

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in India has bred Indian painted roof turtles. (News source.)

Northern Territory Wildlife Park has bred a pair of death adders, resulting in a 25 baby litter. (News source.)

New Zealand Frogs

Maud Island frogs (a New Zealand endemic) have been found breeding in the wild for the first time. (News source.)

King Cobra Breeding Center Starts Up Again

A captive breeding program for king cobras in Mangalore, India, has restarted, though apparently with some opposition. (News source.)

Amphibian Breeding Strategies

A researcher is suggesting that alternative breeding strategies by amphibians are an attempt to avoid parasites, etc. From the Eurekalert:

"Brian Todd, a researcher at the UGA Odum School of Ecology Savannah River Ecology Lab, explains that most amphibians start their lives in water (tadpoles are a good example), and then make their way onto land as adults and return to the water to breed. But there are other breeding strategies as well. Take, for instance, the Darwin’s frog, the species that swallows its eggs and, a few weeks later, regurgitates its young. Or the marsupial frog, a species that carries its eggs on its back until they hatch. Several species lay eggs in small puddles on land or high up in trees where they hatch as miniature versions of adults, bypassing the larval stage entirely.
"Researchers have hypothesized that natural selection favored these non-traditional breeding strategies as a way to avoid predatory fish or the risk of a breeding pond or stream drying up. In a review article published in the November issue of The American Naturalist, Todd argues that the diversity of reproductive strategies that amphibians employ might also be influenced by the benefits that come from avoiding viruses, fungi and other parasites."

Tenarife Facility

The giant lizard breeding facility in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, Tenarife, is using natural methods for hatching eggs of the endangered species. Last year, incubator methods produced far more males than females, so they are hoping this produces a more number of both genders. (News source.)

Slimy Salamanders Breed

Toledo (OH) Zoo has a new captive-bred clutch of slimy salamanders, though it apparently wasn't intentional. (News source.)