กระทู้เก่า - 04136 : Beaches and leatherbacks in Gabon

 Beaches and leatherbacks in Gabon

Beaches of Gabon, western Central Africa, look like any other beaches in the world. But they are the second most important site for leatherback turtle nesting in the world, after South America. On this picture in Gamba, two ennemies of these turtles appear: ghost crabs and logs. The crabs are natural predators, and feed on eggs and babies. These logs were cut in the interior of the country, brought to the sea by the rivers, and were lost and landed on beaches. In some places there are so many logs that turtles can no longer nest, or are crushed by the floating logs near the beach...

osgp  [ 6/7/2548 18:30:23 ]

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And here is the baby leatherback, the hope for the future generations of its species... Here just emerging on a beach in Gamba, southwestern Gabon. Leatherback turtle is one of the few Gabonese reptile species shared with Thailand, among a few other sea turtles and... the flowerpot blind snake Ramphotyphlops braminus (ngoo din thammada), recently introduced here...

osgp [6/7/2548 18:45:33]

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ooops - picture not attached. I try again...

osgp [6/7/2548 23:30:37]

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In Gabon, no sea turtle nor any reptile is totally protected. Only some are partly protected: the leatherback turtle, all three African crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis, Crocodylus niloticus and C. cataphractus, the two latter species looking like, respectively, C. porosus and Tomistoma schlegelii - the takhong), the forest monitor (Varanus ornatus, a species that looks very much like Varanus salvator), and the rock python (Python sebae, looking like Python molurus).

If you have questions on Gabon's reptiles, amphibians, or fauna in general, please ask - in Thai as well as in English. Sorry if we can not always be available at the time you check the web - there are six hours jetlag!

osgp [6/7/2548 23:39:6]

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Hemidactylus fasciatus..

knotsnake [6/7/2548 23:53:9]

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Sorry Knot, for now I can just send you pictures. But I do not forget your Hemidactylus fasciatus... Let me introduce you to other nice Gabonese Hemidactylus. Last week-end, we tried to go to a lake, but the road was very bad, and the car got stuck, see picture. While blocked there, we searched under the bark of a big tree in savanna, and found a H. richardsonii, very very rare - you do not think it is at least as beautiful as H. fasciatus??

osgp [7/7/2548 0:19:56]

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And here is one of my preferred hemidactylus...

osgp [7/7/2548 0:21:1]

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 [7/7/2548 0:39:5]

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And what do you think about this next one: Hemidactylus muriceus.Iit is of the same size as djingdjok baan in Thailand (Hemidactylus frenatus), but this one is a forest species which does not enter houses. It is very common here in all forests. If you catch it, it bites many times, but of course it is not painful!

osgp [7/7/2548 0:51:4]

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 [7/7/2548 10:5:44]

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 [7/7/2548 11:50:36]

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knotsnake [7/7/2548 14:0:44]

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I promiss I will send many more pictures! Just not easy with the internet here, and difficult to find a good time to chat because of the jetlag.
I work here as researcher for the Smithsonian Institution in a partnership with Shell. There is a website with many pictures of our Gamba project: go to http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MAB/researchprojects/appliedconservation/gabon/ and check the field notes on the bottom of the page. There are also fish pictures, and a picture of Hemidactylus fasciatus for Knot!

OSGP [7/7/2548 16:8:39]

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 [7/7/2548 20:58:45]