American croc no longer listed as endangered

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declassified the American crocodile as an endangered species, saying the animal has rebounded from the edge of extinction. The species has rebounded in the United States from just 300 in 1976 to an estimated 2,000 today.

The reptile remains protected under the federal Endangered Species Act even though it was downgraded to a "threatened" species, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill the reptiles.

"It's just one step closer to recovery, but it still has many, many threats," Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Tom MacKenzie said in announcing the move Tuesday. "It's still protected with the full force of federal law."

Visitor waddles in and makes itself at home

A fairy penguin popped into the Clark family's Tasmanian home for a visit on Wednesday and spent the day in the bathtub.

Sometime before Wednesday morning, the little penguin had waddled about 100 metres up the beach, crossing a railway track and a road in the process and wandered into the Clark's front yard in West Ulverstone about three hours northwest of Hobart in Tasmania.

Garry Clark said when the front door was opened to let the dog out to the toilet, the penguin entered.

"The dog went out and a penguin came in," Mr Clark said.

"I was in getting ready for work and my son came in and said `Dad, there's a penguin in the lounge room'.

"I thought, `that can't be right'."

But a penguin in the lounge room there was, and a friendly one at that.

Mr Clark said the animal appeared quite comfortable and made no problem when it was picked up.

The penguin was popped in the bathtub with a little water for the day.

"We sat him in there and he splashed about in the water every now and again."

A bit of thawed salmon from the freezer did not tempt the penguin.

On advice from the Parks and Wildlife Service, the penguin remained in the tub until Wednesday evening.

"Monster" Toad Caught Down Under

An environmental group said Tuesday it had captured a "monster" toad the size of a small dog.

With a body the size of a football and weighing nearly 2 pounds, the toad is among the largest specimens ever captured in Australia, according to Frogwatch coordinator Graeme Sawyer.

"It's huge, to put it mildly," he said. "The biggest toads are usually females but this one was a rampant male ... I would hate to meet his big sister."

Frogwatch, which is dedicated to wiping out a toxic toad species that has killed countless Australian animals, picked up the 15-inch-long cane toad during a raid on a pond outside the northern city of Darwin late Monday.

Tiger Temple - Thailand

Deep in the heart of the Kanchanaburi province in Western Thailand there lies a Buddhist temple with a difference. For not only is this temple home to monks who spend their time in prayer and meditation, over the last 7 years it has become a sanctuary for tigers.



When villagers found an orphaned tiger cub, they went from place to place seeking help. Upon arrival at the monastery, the cub was welcomed out of compassion and saved from certain death. Since then many more orphaned tigers have found refuge under the abbots loving care.

Deadly jellyfish halt Hollywood production

A deadly species of jellyfish, translucent and the size of a thumbnail, is spreading along Australia’s coastline as a result of global warming, scientists warned today.

Irukandji jellyfish are among the world’s most toxic creatures – all but impossible to detect in the water but packing a potentially lethal punch belying their tiny size.

Until recently it was thought that they were confined to Australia’s northern tropical waters, but marine biologists have now found them off Queensland’s Fraser Island — a popular tourist spot about 400 miles south of their previously assumed range.

Their discovery has halted production of a Hollywood film, Fool’s Gold, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, who were originally due to be filmed swimming in the sea. Dr Jamie Seymour, from James Cook University, said she had found five of the animals off the island.

“You can’t now say the waters around Fraser Island are jellyfish safe. I mean, these animals have the potential to kill you,” he told ABC radio.

“The ones we were catching weren’t any bigger than your thumbnail. They’ve got tentacles that are probably a half to three quarters of a metre long, and pretty much transparent. So unless you really know what you’re looking for, you’re not going to see them in the water.”

If they migrate south in sufficient numbers, irukandji would threaten the safety of swimmers, surfers and snorkellers along southern Queensland’s Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast holiday destinations.

Little is known about their biology but their toxicity is legendary. One of the tiny jellyfish was blamed for killing a 58-year-old British tourist, Richard Jordan, in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland in 2002. A few months later, a 44-year-old American tourist was stung and also died.

"Strange Owl" Seen in Wild for First Time

A tiny bird so rare and unusual that its scientific name means "strange owl" has been spotted for the first time in the wild, scientists announced yesterday.

Conservationists working in Peru got their first natural glimpse of the long-whiskered owlet last month while working in a private mountain reserve.

The species wasn't even known to exist until 1976, and since then the only known living specimens have been those caught in nets at night.

"Seeing the long-whiskered owlet is a huge thrill," said David Geale of Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos, who was part of the research team, in a press statement.

The American Bird Conservancy, which partnered in the research, described the sighting as "a holy grail" of bird biology.

As few as 250 of the owlets are thought to exist, scientists said, and the birds are as distinctive as they are rare.

Spear-wielding chimps snack on skewered bushbabies

In a revelation that destroys yet another cherished notion of human uniqueness, wild chimpanzees have been seen hunting bushbabies with spears. It is the first time an animal has been seen using a tool to hunt a vertebrate.

Many chimpanzees trim twigs to use for ant-dipping and termite-fishing. But a population of savannah chimps (Pan troglodytes verus) living in the Fongoli area of south-east Senegal have been seen making spears from strong sticks that they sharpen with their teeth. The average spear length is 63 centimetres (25 inches), says Jill Pruetz at Iowa State University in Ames, US, who observed the behaviour.

And the method of procuring food with these tools is not simply extractive, as it is when harvesting insects. It is far more aggressive. They use the spears to hunt one of the cutest primates in Africa: bushbabies (Galago senegalensis).

Bushbabies are nocturnal and curl up in hollows in trees during the day. If disturbed during their slumbers – if their nest cavity is broken open, for example – they rapidly scamper away. It appears that the chimps have learnt a grizzly method of slowing them down.

Rare Colossal Squid Could Be World's Biggest

A colossal squid that could weigh a half-ton may prove to be the biggest specimen ever landed.

The squid, which weighs an estimated 990 pounds and is about 39 feet long, took two hours to land in Antarctic waters, New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said.

The fishermen were catching Patagonian toothfish, sold under the name Chilean sea bass, south of New Zealand "and the squid was eating a hooked toothfish when it was hauled from the deep," Anderton said.

The fishing crew and a fisheries official on board their ship estimated the length and weight of the squid: Detailed, official measurements have not been made.

Long-captive manatees returned to wild

ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- Two manatees that had been at an Ohio zoo were released into the wild on Tuesday at Blue Spring State Park in Volusia County.

Gene, who weighs about 1,900 pounds, had been in captivity for 30 years. When he was 2, he was hit by a boat and cut by its propeller in Brevard County.

Gene's son, Dundee, who weighs about 1,300 pounds, was released with his father. Dundee acted a little childish when workers tried to turn him on his stomach. He showed off for the waiting pod in the water and the crowd was delighted.

Researchers hope that Gene and Dundee will thrive in the wild. They have installed global position system-like devices in the manatees to monitor their progress.

"We're monitering him to make sure he is adapting, and if he is not, then we can intervene. We also do routine health assessments," said Monica Ross, a Wildlife Trust research scientist.

It was a bittersweet parting for some in the crowd, including Marvin Darvey, who watched over Gene in the Ohio zoo for more than six years.

"I am glad that he can get out there and meet some girls and maybe make some babies because that's the whole object," said Darvey.