The decline in numbers of farm ponds has left the threatened great crested newt with fewer places to breed and struggling to survive in Scotland.
Now Scottish Natural Heritage is calling on individuals to help out, through the simple act of helping to build a pond in their garden or community.

The great-crested newt, also called the warty newt due to the lumps on its skin, is the largest of Britain’s three newt species and is dark in colour, with a vivid orange belly covered in black spots. The handsome creature has been put on SNH’s Species Action List, as needing conservation action.

In the most recent survey, the newts were discovered in just 100 ponds across Scotland. Although they live most of their life on land, preferring rough grassland and woodland, they need ponds in which to breed. Before the advent of tractors and taps, farms used to be covered in ponds to provide water for animals, but today there is a shortage of places for the great crested newt to breed.

Researchers discovered a legless lizard and a tiny woodpecker along with 12 other suspected new species in Brazil’s Cerrado, one of the world’s 34 biodiversity conservation hotspots. The Cerrado’s wooded grassland once covered an area half the size of Europe, but is now being converted to cropland and ranch land at twice the rate of the neighbouring Amazon rainforest, resulting in the loss of native vegetation and unique species.

An expedition comprising scientists from Conservation International (CI) and Brazilian universities found 14 species believed new to science — eight fish, three reptiles, one amphibian, one mammal, and one bird — in and around the Serra Gerald do Tocantins Ecological Station, a 716,000-hectare (1,769,274-acre) protected area that is the Cerrado’s second largest.

The lizard, of the Brachia genus, resembles a snake due to its lack of legs and pointed snout, which help it move across the predominantly sandy soil formed by the natural erosion of the escarpments of the Serra Gerald. Other suspected new species include a dwarf woodpecker (genus Picumnus) and horned toad (genus Proceratophrys). “It’s very exciting to find new species and data on the richness, abundance, and distribution of wildlife in one of the most extensive, complex, and unknown regions of the Cerrado,” said CI biologist Cristiano Nogueira, the expedition leader. “Protected areas such as the Ecological Station are home to some of the last remaining healthy ecosystems in a region increasingly threatened by urban growth and mechanized agriculture.”

The team also recorded several threatened species such as the hyacinth macaw, marsh deer, three-banded armadillo (tatu-bola), the Brazilian merganser, and the dwarf tinamou among more than 440 species of vertebrates documented during the 29-day field expedition. Comprising 21 percent of Brazil, the Cerrado is the most extensive woodland-savannah in South America. Large mammals such as the giant anteater, giant armadillo, jaguar and maned wolf struggle to survive in the fast-changing habitat also know as Brazil’s breadbasket.

The expedition included 26 researchers from the University of São Paulo and its Museum of Zoology; the federal universities of São Carlos and Tocantins; and CI-Brazil. It was funded by the O Boticário Foundation for Conservation of Nature, with the support of the NGO Pequi–Pesquisa e Conservação do Cerrado (Research & Conservation of the Cerrado).

Lutembe, a 30-year-old giant python that was rescued from Lutembe Beach Hotel last year, has become the proud mother of 40 babies. For Julius Abigaba, a reptile keeper at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, formerly known as Entebbe Zoo, the last two weeks were the most exciting of his life.

“It is the first time snakes are breeding at this centre,” he said. “This is an achievement that gives us pride.” Abigaba has been watching over the python as it was incubating a cluster of eggs slightly bigger than the size of chicken. After they lay their eggs, females will typically incubate them until they hatch. This is achieved by causing the muscles to “shiver“, which raises the temperature of the body. During the incubation period, females will not eat and only leave to bask in order to raise their body temperature.

Lutembe spent the early hours of yesterday in the sun in her reptile house, which she shares with two other pythons, occasionally checking on her young ones. Her skin has started peeling off, exposing a new beautiful one. “She coils around the baby pythons most of the time,” said Abigaba. “She is so protective. When caregivers go in to clean the reptile house, she hisses to scare them away.”

Previously, Lutembe was living a miserable life inside a metallic cage at Lutembe Beach Hotel. Tourists used to pay sh500 to her captors. They would poke her with a metallic rod for her to turn, as part of the entertainment. “We intervened and rescued her, but she had broken some bones in the head,” Abigaba explained. “This was discovered after an X-ray. She was treated and has now healed.”

The centre keeps snakes and other wild animals for conservation purposes. The young ones will be relocated to a national park, according to Abigaba. “The number is too big for us to handle and wild animals belong to the wilderness.“

ValueAquatics have the full range of Hozelock Easyclear pond filters for sale. The Easyclear 3000, 6000 and 9000 models are all available from ValueAquatics NOW for immediate dispatch.

These all in one filters are one of our best sellers especially now at the start of the pond season.

John

About eleven years ago there was a mining accident at Aznalcóllar that contaminated part of the Doñana National Park in Spain; it caused major damage to the reptile habitat there. Now a team of Spanish researchers that have been studying the reptiles there since 20000, have shown that by setting up artificial refuges, that the disappearance of there natural homes had a serious impact on the lizard and snakes there.

Researchers from the University of Grenada and Barcelona started a study nine years ago of the reptiles in the Doñana ecological corridor. They found that the reptile there were “ very impoverished”, and that despite a clean up of the area the natural refuges and could only find one of the thirteen reptile species present there, the European common Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica).

The university teams created some artificial refuges some 120 groups of tree trunks on a 24 hectare site. They monitored the site and compared it with another site that was left alone for comparison.

The test area was found to recuperate from the one gecko species in 20000-20001, to six species in 2006.  

“The results suggest that landscape rehabilitation programmes shouldn’t overlook the availability of refuges for wildlife, a vital resource for Mediterranean reptiles, and something that can be put into place using an system as inexpensive as waste tree trunks,” concludes the biologist         

John

Anglers are being brought in to help rescue a critically endangered Cyprus water snake that has lived on the island for thousands of years, but now faces a major threat from a snappy fish with a big appetite.

This month (February 2010), anglers will be allowed to fish again in a picturesque reservoir that has been overrun by largemouth bass, an invasive fish species which eats virtually everything that moves in the lake.

That includes frogs, a staple in the diet of the demure snake, Natrix natrix cypriaca, which breeds on the banks of the Xyliatos Reservoir.
The primary source of food for the snake is being threatened by the Bass an alien species.
An official from Cyprus’s Department of Fisheries and Marine Research said.
Largemouth bass feed in shallow waters near the banks of reservoirs, the same breeding ground used by the Natrix natrix cypriaca.
Cyprus lists the snake as critically endangered. The snake is harmless, and will not poison or bite. If threatened, it will either emit a foul-smelling fluid which it attempts to smear on its predator — or plays dead.
“They turn themselves upside down … with the mouth open and the tongue hanging out,” the Fisheries Department said on its website.

Remains of Natrix natrix cypriaca have been discovered at Aetokremmos, the oldest prehistoric site on Cyprus, dating back some 12,000 years.
Xyliatos, nestled in the foothills of Troodos, the central mountain range of the Mediterranean island, is one of the very few areas where it still lives.
The anglers had originally been banned from the area to stop them trampling over the banks and inadvertently destroying the snake’s habitat.
Now the threat from the bass has become too great.
The reservoir has traditionally been stocked with trout, a fish notoriously difficult to catch and sensitive to the slightest detail, down to the colour of an angler’s attire.
The bass, a larger and more aggressive fish, has made its appearance in recent years, put there, authorities suspect, by illicit anglers who find it easier to catch.

John
www.ValueAquatics.co.uk

Have you got a nice shady restful spot in your garden then how about a stone seat or bench? ValueAquatics have the answer stone benches from Lucas stone. There is the Classical Tudor Bench that comes in six easy to build sections the back and arms need to be bolted together for stability(all nuts an bolts are included). This really does look the part and makes a permanent feature in your garden.

ValueAquatics also offer other seating options from Lucas Stone which you can mix and match to your own design. There are three different designs of legs/bases to choose from, Column, Scroll, Squirrel and Worth bench to choose from in pairs.

The tops come in four options also; Curved Plain, Curved patterned Straight plain and straight patterned tops.

Lucas stone offer these in aged Cotswold stone or Moss finish.  

John

Why not add a Bird Bath to your garden and get endless hours of fun watching the birds drinking and bathing in you own bird bath.

Valueaquatics have an excellent range to suit all gardens and pockets from the Simple Bird Bath to the Egyptian Bird Bath. They are made by Lucas Stone who has been producing garden ornaments for 35 years. All the Bird Baths and other ornaments and statues are made to a very high standard, hand made from reconstituted stone. They are made in two finishes aged Cotswold Stone an off white grey stone colour or a Moss finish greenish-yellow stone colour, which will fit in with any garden.

The Bird baths and other statues are delivered by Lucas Stone in an area delivery rotation so it depends on when the driver is delivering to a certain area, delivery can be one week or four weeks. The driver will position the statue in you garden for you within reason, not up or down too many steps etc.

James

Have you ever wanted a wishing well in your garden but not had the space?  Well if you have a wall you can now get a wishing well that goes against a wall. The Intalogs Flatback WishingWell & Fountain is designed to go into the smaller garden or patio, up against a wall or fence.

Intalogs wishing well is constructed of pressure treated timber to give protection against the elements and giving it  longer life. It comes Flat Packed and is easy to assemble and take down if you move or decide to relocate it. It should take about 30 to 45 minutes to assemble.

ValueAquatics offer Intalogs Flatback Wishing Well and most of their other garden pools, Herb wheels and planters at exceptional prices which include delivery to your door within the UK mainland on orders £50+.

The Wishing Well comes complete with a 25 Gallon Liner. Pump and 3 fountain heads.

Slots together for easy assembly and disassembly
Simply erected on a flat surface, so there is no digging
No plumbing for the fountain
Pressure treated wood
Short assembly time
Jacqui

Hi There

Here at ValueAquatics we are always looking at giving our customers the best customer service, along with the best prices and range of products. We are always receptive to feedback so if you have any comments regarding any issues please let me know. If you think we can do better on price on any products, or you think there is something missing from our website, please let us know!

Contact Us

Thankyou
Jacqui…….