Crocodile's flying leap at swimmer in Australia

Three Swedish tourists had a surprise while swimming in a national park in Australia when a crocodile leapt from rocks landing on one of them.

Felix Andersson, Jakob Hellberg and Ulrik Bergsland were testing new underwater camera kit when they spotted the creature and moved in for a closer look.

The crocodile suddenly launched itself from rocks in the Litchfield National Park, landing on Felix Andersson's shoulder.

Speaking to the BBC News Website, Mr Andersson said he was surprised but unhurt by the crocodile.

Video at:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20778680

Crayfish Harbor Fungus That's Wiping Out Amphibians – via Herp Digest

Freshwater crustaceans could be the key to understanding how the chytrid fungus persists in the ecosystem long after the last amphibian is gone.

Helen Fields

for National Geographic News

Published December 17, 2012

Scientists have found a new culprit in spreading the disease that's been driving the world's frogs to the brink of extinction: crayfish.

In the last few decades, the disease caused by the chytrid fungus has been a disaster for frogs and other amphibians. More than 300 species are nearly extinct because of it. Many probably have gone extinct, but it can be difficult to know for sure when a tiny, rare species disappears from the face of the Earth. (Related photos: "Ten Most Wanted 'Extinct' Amphibians.")

"This pathogen is bad news. It's worse news than any other pathogen in the history of life on Earth as far as we know it," says Vance Vredenburg, a conservation biologist at San Francisco State University who studies frogs but did not work on the new study.

The chytrid fungus was only discovered in the late 1990s. Since then, scientists have been scrambling to figure out how it spreads and how it works.

One of the biggest mysteries is how chytrid can persist in a frogless pond. Researchers saw it happen many times and were perplexed: If all of a pond's amphibians were wiped out, and a few frogs or salamanders came back and recolonized the pond, they would also die—even though there were no amphibians in the pond to harbor the disease. (Learn about vanishing amphibians.)

One possible reason is that chytrid infects other animals. For a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Taegan McMahon, a graduate student in ecology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, looked at some possible suspects and focused on crayfish, those lobsterlike crustaceans living in freshwater. They seemed like a good possibility because they're widespread and because their bodies have a lot of keratin, a protein the fungus attacks.

In the lab, McMahon exposed crayfish to the disease and they got sick. More than a third died within seven weeks, and most of the survivors were carrying the fungus. She also put infected crayfish in the water with tadpoles—separated by mesh, so the crustaceans wouldn't eat the baby frogs—and the tadpoles got infected. When McMahon and her colleagues checked out wetlands in Louisiana and Colorado, they also found infected crayfish.

That means crayfish can probably act as a reservoir for the disease. The fungus seems to be able to dine on crayfish then leap back to amphibians when it gets a chance. No one knows for sure where the fungus originally came from or why it's been such a problem in recent decades, but this research suggests one way that it could have been spread. Crayfish are sometimes moved from pond to pond as fish bait and are sold around the world as food and aquarium pets. (Related photos: "New Giant 'Bearded' Crayfish Species.")

The study doesn't answer every last question about the disease. For one thing, crayfish are common, but they aren't everywhere; there are no crayfish in some of the places where frogs have been hardest hit, Vredenburg says. But, he says, the new research shows that "we need to start looking a little more broadly at other potential hosts."

FREE - The State of Amphibians in the United States - via Herp Digest

2012, Muths, E.; Adams, M. J.; Grant, E. H. C.; Miller, D.; Corn, P. S.; Ball, L. C.

USGS Fact Sheet: 2012-3092

Full-text PDF at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/fs20123092

The document and additional supplemental information are available at the index page for this publication

Jaguar and ocelot photographed in southern Arizona

Jaguar seen previously in different mountain range

December 2012. An adult male jaguar and an adult male ocelot have been photographed in two separate southern Arizona mountain ranges by automated wildlife monitoring cameras. The images were collected as part of the Jaguar Survey and Monitoring Project led by the University of Arizona. Both animals appear to be in good health.

Jaguar photographed in 2011 & 2012 in different locations
In late November 2012, the UA project team downloaded photos from wildlife cameras set up as part of the research project and found new pictures of a jaguar in the Santa Rita Mountains. A total of ten jaguar photos were taken by three UA cameras and one Arizona Game and Fish Department camera. The cat's unique spot pattern matched that of a male jaguar in the Whetstone Mountains photographed by a hunter in the fall of 2011, providing clear evidence that the big cats travel between southern Arizona's "sky island" mountain ranges.

A September 2012 jaguar "tail" photo was previously reported by the Arizona Game and Fish Department from a hunter's automated wildlife monitoring camera in the Santa Rita Mountains. None of the UA photos can be matched to this "tail" photo because, in the new photos, the tail is obscured or the opposite side of the jaguar was photographed. However, the jaguar is most likely the same individual.

Ocelot
In addition, a new ocelot photo was taken in the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista by one of the UA project cameras. Again, comparisons of the spot patterns revealed this to be the same male ocelot that has been reported by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and photographed in the Huachucas several times in 2011 and 2012. However, the UA photo was taken about 4 miles away from the previous photos, demonstrating that even the smaller cats move across the rugged Arizona landscape.

The purpose of the UA research project is to establish a non-invasive, hands-off system for detecting and monitoring jaguars and ocelots. The project is using motion-sensor-activated "trail" cameras placed in areas most likely to detect the spotted cats. Once fully operational, up to 240 paired cameras will be in place throughout the project area to capture images of both sides of detected animals.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/jaguar-arizona012.html

Diamond Head Shark Attack: Australia Surfer Fights Back, Loses Fingers (VIDEO)

A man surfing at Diamond Head, near Port Macquarie, Australia, lost two fingers and a suffered a bite to his thigh when he was attacked by what is believed to be a bull shark Friday.

The 29-year-old surfer was in the water amid a pod of dolphins when the shark attacked, Adam Clarke, who witnessed the attack, told NBC News.

A spokeswoman for Surf Life Saving told the Sydney Morning Herald that the surfer, whose name has not been released, was riding a stand-up paddle board when he was bit on the thigh.

"The thigh wound didn't lose any flesh - it was a serious slash rather than a chunk of flesh being bitten out of him and the paramedics said it would be able to be stitched up," Senior Constable Chris Rowley from Laurieton police told the Herald Sun.

Witnesses said the man used his board to fight off the attacking shark, but had his fingers chewed off in the process.

According to local media, fellow surfers used their board ropes as a tourniquet to stop the man from bleeding out on the beach. That quick thinking may have saved his life.

"All his friends did a marvellous job. His fellow surfers and his friends here on the beach, they really did save his life until we got here. They did well," paramedic Ian Spencer told the Telegraph U.K.

The man was airlifted by helicopter to an area hospital about 175 miles away. He is in stable condition.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/diamond-head-shark-attack-man-loses-fingers-video_n_2377201.html