The Associated Press
© December 1, 2009
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH, N.C.
People who own crocodiles, venomous snakes and large pythons in North Carolina must secure them in containers and face prosecution if the reptiles gravely attack a friend or stranger in legislation that takes effect to day in North Carolina.
The new reptile rules are among more than 50 largely criminal justice laws approved this year, including a
texting-while-driving ban for all motorists, more authority for state officers who oversee probationers and the most significant changes to the state's sentencing grid since it began.
The minimum safety requirements for keeping dangerous reptiles are designed to update an abridged 60-year-old reptile law, said Andrew Wyatt of Coinjock, president of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers. Increasing numbers of people now own these reptiles as a pet or for business who aren't linked to zoos or museums.
"People that want to work with these type of animals are going to have to meet best industry management practices," said Wyatt, who helped draft the state legislation sponsored by Sen. Ed Jones, D-Halifax. "They're going to have to step up to the plate to make sure that all the proper protocols are adhered to."
Private owners now will have to store or transport venomous reptiles, large constricting snakes and non-
native crocodilians in "escape-proof" and "bite-proof" enclosures with a working lock. The enclosures must be labeled to include emergency contact information and what should happen if the reptile bites someone or escapes.
Someone who intentionally or negligently handles these reptiles in an unsafe manner could be charged with a misdemeanor. The owner could face up to 150 days in jail if someone besides a family member or employee suffers a life-threatening injury or dies as a result. A current owner who doesn't want to follow the new rules also could face a similar punishment if the person releases a nonnative reptile into the wild, instead of finding a new owner.
An 8-foot pet python strangled a Florida toddler in July. The python's owner was the boyfriend of the child's mother, though Wyatt said he's not aware of any such accident occurring in North Carolina. Last year, in Virginia Beach, a woman was strangled by her pet python. Investigators believe the 25-year-old woman was trying to give medicine to the 13-foot-long tiger reticulated python when it wrapped itself around her neck.
The new driving-while-texting ban builds upon a 2006 law already making it illegal for young drivers to use a cell phone while driving as a way to reduce distractions on the road. Now all drivers are barred from text messaging or sending e-mails with their cell phones while on a road or highway, even if the car is idling at a stop light. There are some exceptions.
Violators could face a $100 fine plus $130 in court costs. Adults can continue to send or receive cell phone calls.
At least 18 other states have texting bans for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. The state Highway Patrol says too many young people are still ignoring the 2006 law. The patrol is holding safety events at high schools where teenagers travel in golf carts and try to avoid traffic cones while being told to send a text message.
"It's going to take more than just a state trooper 30 minutes or an hour working with them," patrol Capt. Everett Clendenin said. "It's going to fall back on parents and it's going to fall back on educators."
Reforms taking effect to better monitor the state's 114,000 probationers or parolees are based on recommendations after problems surfaced following last year's death of University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson. The two men charged with Carson's killing were on probation at the time of her death.
Now probation officers can have access to an offender's juvenile records without a court order to get a better handle on the person's criminal history. Warrantless searches also can now be a common condition of probation.
Two new laws that adjust the grid used by judges since 1995 to determine a range of minimum and maximum time that offenders must serve also could reduce the need for 2,100 prison beds by 2020.
The grid changes will make some sentences shorter - up to 28 months less in the most extreme cases - and slightly longer for low-grade felonies. More second-time offenders for less serious felonies also are more likely to receive probation.
Pilot writer Lauren King contributed to this report.
New Pink Lizard Found on Galapagos
By JEANNETH VALDIVIESO
QUITO, Ecuador (Jan. 7) - Hard to believe a giant, pink lizard could
be overlooked for almost two centuries.
Charles Darwin missed it during his 1835 study of the Galapagos
Islands that led to his theory of evolution. Park rangers ignored the
pink and black-striped reptiles after accidentally happening upon
them in 1986. Some thought the stripes were just stains.
Animal DiscoveriesGalapagos National Park / AP21 photos Scientists
reported this week that they have documented a new species,
the "iguana rosada." The big, pink lizard was found on the Galapagos
Islands. Although the species is believed to date back more than 5
million years, Charles Darwin missed it when he studied the islands
in 1835. His work there led to his theory of evolution.(Note: Please
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But scientists now have documented a new species, the
iguana "rosada," (pink in Spanish), which may be one of the
archipelago's oldest, according to research published this week in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Blood and genetic tests on 36 pink iguanas -- which average 3 to 5
feet in length -- show the lizards belong to a previously
undiscovered species that appears to live exclusively around Isabela
Island's Wolf Volcano, an area Darwin never explored.
Researchers from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Galapagos
National Park began to investigate in 2001 whether the lizards were a
different species or an adaptation for environmental or food reasons
of the Galapagos' two known land iguanas: the Conolophus subcristatus
and Conolophus pallidus.
But the pink iguana, it turns out, is older and likely the
predecessor of the two, said Cruz Marquez, a biologist who is part of
the research team. It dates back more than 5 million years,
researchers say.
The pink iguana has not yet been given a scientific name.
"To discover a large vertebrate that was unknown in an area where
there has been a lot of research is very special," Marquez told The
Associated Press by telephone from the park.
http://news.aol.com/article/new-pink-lizard-found-on-galapagos/297896?
Rare Reptile Becomes Dad at Age 111
By RAY LILLEY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Jan. 26) - A captive reptile in New Zealand
has unexpectedly become a father at the ripe old age of 111 after
receiving treatment for a cancer that made him hostile toward
prospective mates.
The centenarian tuatara, named Henry, was thought well past the
mating game until he was caught canoodling with a female named
Mildred last March — a consummation that resulted in 11 babies being
hatched on Monday.
Tuatara are indigenous New Zealand creatures that resemble lizards
but descend from a distinct lineage of reptile that walked the earth
with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
An endangered species, the hatchlings born at the Southland Museum
and Art Gallery will provide a badly needed boost to the tuatara's
genetic diversity, said the gallery's tuatara curator, Lindsay Hazley.
Henry was at least 70 years old when he arrived at the museum, "a
grumpy old man" who attacked other reptiles, including females, until
a cancerous tumor was removed from his genitals in 2002, said Hazley.
"I went off the idea he was good for breeding," Hazley told The
Associated Press, but once the tumor was removed, "he was no longer
aggressive."
The museum now has 72 of the reptiles after 42 hatchings in the past
two years.
Hazley hopes to use Henry regularly in the breeding program that is
helping expand tuatara numbers after they had been savaged by
predators.
Tuatara are estimated to number about 50,000, most of them living in
predator-free sanctuaries, including offshore islands.
A male Tuatara takes 70 years to fully mature but reaches sexual
maturity about age 20.
While there's no scientific data on the life span of the ancient
reptiles, "they go beyond 100 well and truly," Hazley said. "They can
be around for 150 to 250 years."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
