Terrapin Project Reveals Strong Numbers, Cautious Outlook

On most summer mornings the last two years, a small boat motored into the Georgia marsh with researchers, nets and high hopes on board. In small tidal creeks, the researchers spent hours in the murky water, dragging seines and struggling through the soft mud. Often their work was rewarded with catches of small, colorful turtles – diamondback terrapins.

Now, University of Georgia graduate student Andrew Grosse is analyzing data from more than 1,500 turtles recorded in the State Wildlife Grant project aimed at assessing Georgia’s diamondback terrapin populations, the first such study. Early indications are that the species is abundant.

“Habitat loss due to increased urbanization is a leading cause of decline for this species, and Georgia has one of the most undeveloped coastlines within the range of the diamondback terrapin, so that’s good news for these turtles,” said Grosse, leader of the joint UGA and Georgia Department of Natural Resources project.

Mark Dodd, a senior wildlife biologist with the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division, sees the project as “the beginning of a long-term monitoring program designed to assess the status of diamondback terrapins and the health of Georgia’s estuaries.”

Terrapins are the only North American turtle species that spend their lives in estuary or salt marsh habitat – the area between the mainland and barrier islands. Found along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, they are an indicator species for the habitat and the ecosystem because they are at the top of the food chain.

Grosse said many people don’t even know the turtles are in Georgia. “Everyone, from tourists just visiting for the weekend to permanent residents, should first realize that there are turtles that live on the coast other than sea turtles, and that we all can potentially have both positive and negative impacts on this species.”

One negative is traffic: Many female terrapins are run over crossing roads to reach egg-laying sites. More than 300 turtles were killed on roadways last year. The study looked specifically at impacts from commercial crabbing and road-related mortality.

Grosse's team tracked the number of turtles caught and re-caught to estimate the population for each location. Researchers also recorded the weight, length, sex and age of each terrapin – they can live as long as 20 years. The analysis covered 26 randomly picked sites in creeks and other waterways along the Georgia coast, ensuring an accurate representation of the turtle’s habitat range. Each site was surveyed five times.

The study addressed two primary questions: How many terrapins are there in Georgia and what impact are people and development having on them? State Wildlife Grant projects focus on species in relation to their role within a habitat or ecosystem.

Diamondback terrapins were once harvested for food all along the eastern coast of the U.S. The Cloister on Sea Island was known for its terrapin soup. Turtles were heavily collected from the Hampton River area, with the terrapin industry peaking after the Civil War.

Harvesting the turtles for food has since gone out of style and is illegal under state law. Mortality is now more likely attributed to collisions on roads or entrapment in commercial crab pots.

But even though the project’s preliminary results point to abundant terrapin numbers, considering the outlook, Grosse urged awareness of these unique turtles.

“I would like people to realize that although this species may seem abundant in Georgia, it is in decline in many of the other regions throughout its range. As the Georgia coast continues to be developed, it is inevitable that diamondback terrapins … will be exposed to increased habitat loss and urbanization in the near future.”

Georgians who buy a wildlife license plate featuring a bald eagle or a ruby-throated hummingbird help conserve diamondback terrapins and other nongame wildlife, native plants and natural habitats. The license plate sales are vital to the Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section. The section receives no state funds for its mission to help conserve wildlife not legally hunted, fished for or trapped, as well as rare plants and natural habitats in Georgia.

The plates are available for a one-time $25 fee at county tag offices, by checking the wildlife license plate box on mail-in registrations and through online renewals (http://mvd.dor.ga.gov/tags).

Visit www.georgiawildlife.com for more information, or call Nongame Conservation offices in Social Circle (770-761-3035), Forsyth (478-994-1438) or Brunswick (912-264-7218).

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Your Pet May Be Missing You

(NAPSI)-Veterinarians want dog owners to know that changes in routines and extended owner absences can sometimes bring on unwanted behavior. If your dog has soiled your new carpet, attacked the door molding or shredded your favorite pair of shoes, he could be suffering from canine separation anxiety. Fortunately, he can be helped.

Canine separation anxiety is an underdiagnosed and undertreated condition in which animals become so upset by their owner's departure that they resort to what is considered bad behavior to cope with the situation. It is estimated that separation anxiety may affect up to 10.7 million dogs, or 17 percent (Lilly Market Research) of all dogs in the U.S.

"Separation anxiety is triggered by the owner's absence," according to Barbara Sherman, DVM, a noted veterinary behaviorist at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. "It usually occurs when the owner leaves or immediately after. Because dogs are historically pack animals, the dog views the family as its pack and experiences distress when separated from that family." That stress leads to problem behaviors, including:

• Excessive barking, whining, howling;

• Destruction, chewing, clawing or digging;

• Urinary or bowel accidents indoors;

• Depression/inactivity;

• Constant pacing, circling;

• Excessive licking, drooling.

Separation anxiety is a treatable condition. Most veterinarians choose to use a combination of medication and behavior modification training. Medications have been introduced recently to help ease the pain of separation anxiety for dogs and their owners.

If your busy schedule leaves your dog home alone and triggers bad behavior, talk to your veterinarian about canine separation anxiety, diagnosis and treatment.

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Zoo Atlanta's Lion Cubs are Named

Zoo Atlanta recently announced that after four months of being referred to by the descriptive names Small, Medium and Large, the three male African lion cubs have been officially
named Christos, Mikalos and Athanaisi.

The cubs were named through a generous donation from Zoo Atlanta Board of Directors member Merry Carlos and her husband Chris. The Carlos family is of Greek descent, and all three names are family names: Christos (translates to Chris); Mikalos (translates to Michael), named for Mr. Carlos’ father; and Athanaisi (translates to Thomas), named for his grandfather.

“We’re ecstatic and grateful for the generous donation from the Carlos family. This is another proud momentfor all of Atlanta. We are also excited about the entire pride living together, and mom Kiki, dad Kamau and cubs are doing great,” said Dennis Kelly, Zoo Atlanta President and CEO.

The African lion is classified as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species because of declining populations in the wild. Zoo Atlanta’s cubs are nearly 19 weeks old. The largest cub (Christos) is 23.5 kg, the middle cub (Mikalos) is 21.5 kg, and the smallest cub (Athanaisi) is 20.5 kg.

Kiki, mother, is one of three adult African lions at Zoo Atlanta. She was born on February 3, 2004, at Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens. She arrived at Zoo Atlanta in December of 2005. Kamau was born on September 2, 2004. He came to Zoo Atlanta from the Denver Zoological Garden in October of 2005.

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Voting Now Open to Name Zoo Atlanta's Giant Panda Cub

Atlantans who did their civic duty on Election Day now have a second ballot to cast. Voting to name Zoo Atlanta’s new giant panda cub officially opened on Monday, November 3 on
zooatlanta.org. The only giant panda born in the U.S. in 2008, the 2-month-old cub had already garnered more than 2,400 ballots in the first day of voting.

Twelve final names represent the Zoo Atlanta family and extended family, with contenders from Zoo staff; Zoo Members; the Zoo Atlanta Board of Directors; Zoo Atlanta’s MySpace.com community; the residents of Chengdu, China; and five local media outlets:

Xiao Laoxiong “Little buddy” Giant panda keepers
Xiao Nan “Little man” Zoo Atlanta Staff
Hua Sheng “Peanut” Zoo Atlanta Members
Xi Lan “Atlanta’s joy” Zoo Atlanta Board of Directors
Wei Sheng “Greatness is born” Zoo Atlanta MySpace Community
Shu Shu “Kind and gentle” B98.5 FM
Wei Li “Large and strong” 92.9 Dave FM
Ling Li “Alert and quick” VIVA 105.7 FM
Shen Shi Lan “Atlanta’s gentleman” Star 94 FM
Li Lan “Atlanta’s strength” V103 FM
Fu Mei “Handsome and happy boy” Chengdu, China
Mei Chuan “Handsome Sichuan boy” Chengdu, China

Giant panda fans may vote online on zooatlanta.org or cast a ballot in person at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center at Zoo Atlanta. Voting ends at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 3. The cub’s name will be unveiled during the cub’s 100 Day Naming Celebration on December 8.

The individual or organization responsible for submitting the winning name announced on December 8 wins a private reception for 50 at Zoo Atlanta and an exclusive viewing of the cub, who is expected to make his public debut in January 2009. Images, video and live PandaCam peeks at the new arrival are available on zooatlanta.org.

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Ga. Tech Facilitates Virtual Aquarium Visit at SC08

AAG Note: A virtual interaction with the Georgia Aquarium? Cool.

The Georgia Institute of Technology will command a significant presence at next week’s SC08, the international conference on high-performance computing, networking, storage and analysis scheduled for Nov. 15-21, 2008, at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

Georgia Tech will co-chair a workshop, participate in panel discussions, present technical papers and host 16 booth presentations and video interviews on emerging high-performance computing projects and application areas. A highlight of Tech’s interactive booth display will be a virtual field trip to the Georgia Aquarium. Utilizing a high bandwidth (1Gbps) channel connecting the Aquarium to the SC08 show floor, visitors to the Georgia Tech booth will be able to interact with researchers, fish and other marine creatures live.

“At Georgia Tech, we believe a strong and expansive high-performance computing research community drives the bigger scientific discoveries and better engineering capabilities at the heart of human progress,” said Dr. Mark Allen, senior vice provost for Research and Innovation at Georgia Tech. “Through this premier industry event, researchers, academics and industry professionals have the opportunity to discuss and demonstrate new innovations and breakthroughs in high-impact areas such as biomedicine, nanoscience, astrophysics and exascale computing.

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Georgia Aquarium to Introduce New "Toothy" Sharks

Sand Tiger Sharks to Debut by Thanksgiving

Georgia Aquarium is excited to announce the arrival of six new sand tiger sharks. The sharks are currently located at the Aquarium’s offsite quarantine facility and will be introduced into the Ocean Voyager gallery built by The Home Depot before Thanksgiving.

The three male and three female sharks will go into the 6.3 million gallon habitat alongside the whale sharks and manta ray. The new sharks range from five to more than eight feet in length and weigh between 56 and 237 pounds.

“These sharks are big and display a mouthful of sharp teeth, so we know that they will become a new guest favorite,” said Mike Leven, CEO of Georgia Aquarium. “Even though they are scary looking to some, we are excited to introduce them to our guests as the docile species they are, and spread the word on their declining numbers due to overfishing.”

The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. The sand tiger shark is caught for human consumption, as well as for fishmeal and liver oil, and the fins are used for leather production. The species has the lowest reproductive rate among sharks, giving birth every two years to one or two pups after a gestation period of 9 to 12 months.

According to an independent Harris Poll, 17% of men and 13% of women said that sharks were their favorite aquatic animal. The Georgia Aquarium currently houses whale sharks, zebra sharks, black-tip reef sharks, tasseled wobbegongs, great hammerhead, bonnethead sharks, bamboo sharks, brown-banded bamboo sharks, white-spotted bamboo sharks, epaulette sharks, swell sharks, horn sharks and now sand tiger sharks.

The sand tiger sharks are a part of the Aquarium’s New Every Ninety Program, designed to bring a new animal, exhibit or program to the Aquarium every quarter. In August, the Aquarium introduced the Titanic Aquatic exhibit, which has seen 50,000 visitors, as well as Nandi, the first manta ray in a U.S. Aquarium, to kick-off the New Every Ninety Program.
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AVMA's Top Ten List on Holiday Pet Health

PRNewswire/ -- Dr. James Cook, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), says he has a very unhappy holiday tradition -- treating pets that have become sick due to holiday excesses.

"From Thanksgiving through Christmas and into New Years, we'll see it every year at my practice, and, unfortunately, some of them can't be saved," Dr. Cook explains. "People want to involve their pets in the holiday celebrations, but people need to focus on keeping their pets healthy. That's the best gift."

Here are the AVMA's top ten holiday health tips:

-- Keep table scraps out of your pet's diet. "Salty, spicy and greasy" can be deadly for pets, Dr. Cook explains. Fatty foods can cause a life-threatening condition called pancreatitis in dogs, and bones can splinter in an animal's stomach. And make sure your dog can't get leftovers from the trash.

-- Chocolate should be out of reach of dogs because it's poisonous. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous -- with baker's chocolate being the most deadly.

-- Avoid sweets. A study reported in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2006 linked xylitol -- a common sweetener in baked goods, candy and chewing gum-with liver failure and death in dogs.

-- Give your pet healthy holiday snacks. Recipes are available on the Internet or visit a pet store/bakery. Ask your veterinarian about healthy treats.

-- Anchor your holiday tree. It's a temptation for pets, and, if it topples, it can cause severe injuries. And keep pets away from the tree water as tree preservatives and sap can cause gastrointestinal problems.

-- Never leave a pet alone with a lit candle or exposed flame, and be wary of exposed extension cords.

-- Don't let pets dine on holiday plants. Poinsettia, holly, cedar, balsam, pine and mistletoe are poisonous.

-- Be careful about ornaments. Cats sometimes consume tinsel and other small decorations, which can block intestines.

-- Don't go off to a holiday party and leave your pet with access to table scraps or anything that might be dangerous. If your dog gets sick while you're away ... it could be a tragic holiday.

-- Finally, don't give a pet as a holiday gift. Giving up a poorly-selected, new pet in January is heartbreaking.

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