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Yep another one turned up on Sunday night. Finding more than one wasn't something i expected to happen, i was even beginning to think that i wasn't going to find one at all. Two in a week was well beyond my wildest thoughts. But to find a third in less than a week... WOW! I'm still expecting to wake up... This has got to be some kind of a record! LOL

This one is another male, he looks very mature. I don't think he is as long as the girl we found last week but is still looking over the 3m mark although a lot thinner (but boys nearly always are).

I really need to publicly thank Gavin for the opportunity to be part of this project, it has meant a lot to me. It is testament to your character that you continued with this project after a decade of set backs. Your hard work starts now lol!

We also owe a lot of gratitude to the Traditional Owners of the land we are working on. Without their support this couldn't and wouldn't have happened.

And all those others that have helped with advise, stories and encouragement over the last few years. The Greg's (there's about 3 of you), Col, Grant, Steve, Roger, Stewart, Daniel and lots of others who's names I forgot or never knew you guys know who you are. Everything helped and i've appreciated all of it!

 
Wow! That's great news Gordo. Three in a week is truly amazing!
A HUGE CONGRATS to you, Gavin and all those that contributed. It's heart-warming to hear about the camaraderie[FONT=&quot][/FONT] that has taken place to make this a success.
Finding a mature male really is the icing on the cake, as now the breeding program can start without delay. Pairing and mating is a realistic goal within months rather than years.
These are extremely great days indeed! :D
 
Well done to all involved. I cannot wait to able to one day have 1 in my collection.
 
May I ask a lame question...
Why are they all on the road?
Is it just a fluke that you are driving along and see them?
Is there some way you a luring them out?
 
Awesome news, Gordo and Gavin, and so exciting. Do you think there's any reason you managed to find three in a week, or is it simply one of those crazy coincidences you'd never be able to make up?

Now that you have five oenpellis, including a mature male, the captive breeding program can begin in earnest. I don't know for sure how many snakes you are allowed to collect in total, but I suspect it's not a high number. Unfortunately, this gives you a limited gene pool to work with. Do you think this will have any effect on the breeding program and the long-term goal to preserve the species in captivity?

Thanks,
Ren
 
May I ask a lame question...
Why are they all on the road?
Is it just a fluke that you are driving along and see them?
Is there some way you a luring them out?
haha , yea big piece of chicken on a stick and you walk around going "here Oenpelli here Oenpelli" making weird little kissy things with your lips , you know like people do with cats ;)

seriously though i believe you will find they where put on the road (possibly infront of a cars headlights) to take the pics and not actually found on the road
 
How many more are they planning on taking? I know it's good for the hobby and I definitely support it - but I have to admit that it's a little bit sad to see those adult females being pulled from the wild.
 
Great to see there is a number of drop bears to get a good breeding project put in place. my questions are, although there are a few specimens already obtained. How many will be needed to keep the gene pool relatively "clean" to keep the species healthey viable for future captive breeding stock? And would it be a good practice to eventually put in place a programn to "replace any animal taken from the wild with a captive born animal to keep the wild poulation from potentiall collapsing?
I absolutely love the work that you guys are doing to bring these guys into captivity and cementing there existence if their wild populations go exctinct. Well done!And one more question, how many original rsp's were obtained?

Well done again.

Cheers
Jeff
 
May I ask a lame question...
Why are they all on the road?
Is it just a fluke that you are driving along and see them?
Is there some way you a luring them out?

It's just dumb luck that they were there. No trickery about it!

Awesome news, Gordo and Gavin, and so exciting. Do you think there's any reason you managed to find three in a week, or is it simply one of those crazy coincidences you'd never be able to make up?

Now that you have five oenpellis, including a mature male, the captive breeding program can begin in earnest. I don't know for sure how many snakes you are allowed to collect in total, but I suspect it's not a high number. Unfortunately, this gives you a limited gene pool to work with. Do you think this will have any effect on the breeding program and the long-term goal to preserve the species in captivity?

Thanks,
Ren

There is definitely a reason that they were all on the roads. I don't know what that reason is yet, but i'm pretty determined to work it out. 3 inside a week isn't a chance event, there must be some conditions that are causing this.

haha , yea big piece of chicken on a stick and you walk around going "here Oenpelli here Oenpelli" making weird little kissy things with your lips , you know like people do with cats ;)

seriously though i believe you will find they where put on the road (possibly infront of a cars headlights) to take the pics and not actually found on the road

Nope all on the road. I wish i had of found them in the escarpment, would have made for a much better story and would have been a bit more satisfying as a herper.

How many more are they planning on taking? I know it's good for the hobby and I definitely support it - but I have to admit that it's a little bit sad to see those adult females being pulled from the wild.

I've said this to a few people, i am really conflicted about taking these animals from the wild. As i am with any other animal. But i think this is an ethical project and will have a negligible effect on wild stocks in the short term and potentially big positives in the future for Indigenous people and the environment.
 
On the move, could it be possible warmth on roads (even though i suspect the rocks on the escarpment would hold more heat gradient)? or more likely searching for a potential mate (breeding season)?
 
It's just dumb luck that they were there. No trickery about it!


Nope all on the road. I wish i had of found them in the escarpment, would have made for a much better story and would have been a bit more satisfying as a herper.
wow that really , really surprises me , right place right time eh you guys must be stoked but on the other hand id be a little cut ( but still stoked) after all the money , hard work and time thats gone into it and you find them on the bloody road

maybe try my chicken trick to find some more , works wonders trust me you just have to hold your lips right ;)
 
Gordo, well done!
My thoughts on why you found this number in a relatively short time goes like this.
Think of the season... are they between seasons?
My work with wild snakes here shows me that they have seasonal haunts for certain reasons.... is the seasonal climate up there (minimal and stable as it is) forcing them to move from feeding grounds to breeding grounds? To my way of thinking they would most likely be sensitive to fairly slight, environmental climatic change.
Once an animal reaches its seasonal haunt, it is less likely to be found. It may be that they are between seasons and therefore mobile. It may pay to follow or radio track an animal or two now. Cheers
 
Great to see there is a number of drop bears to get a good breeding project put in place. my questions are, although there are a few specimens already obtained. How many will be needed to keep the gene pool relatively "clean" to keep the species healthey viable for future captive breeding stock? And would it be a good practice to eventually put in place a programn to "replace any animal taken from the wild with a captive born animal to keep the wild poulation from potentiall collapsing?
I absolutely love the work that you guys are doing to bring these guys into captivity and cementing there existence if their wild populations go exctinct. Well done!And one more question, how many original rsp's were obtained?

Well done again.

Cheers
Jeff
If my memory serves me correctly there were 6 RSP's taken. I'm not sure if they all added to the current gene pool though. Regardless the current captive RSP population appears stable and healthy. There are plenty of current locale line snakes that have come from a very limited gene pool and are going strong many generations later. Taking 8 animals seems about spot on to me at this stage. If needed the gene pool can always be injected with fresh blood at a later date and if taking as few as 8 animals causes the wild population to crash it was doomed anyway.
 
If my memory serves me correctly there were 6 RSP's taken. I'm not sure if they all added to the current gene pool though. Regardless the current captive RSP population appears stable and healthy. There are plenty of current locale line snakes that have come from a very limited gene pool and are going strong many generations later. Taking 8 animals seems about spot on to me at this stage. If needed the gene pool can always be injected with fresh blood at a later date and if taking as few as 8 animals causes the wild population to crash it was doomed anyway.

Thanks Jungle, great reply.

I was just a little concerned that there may be a few isolated populations in certain areas that taking a few specimens from one area may have a dentremental affect on that isolated population if this is the case.
Take out 2 breeding females and a male from a certain isolated distributed area may cause the downfall of that population, would you think?
Not having a go in any form because the species as a whole need to be preserved. But replacing a few captive snakes to an area that has been previously harvested at a later date screams logic?
I am 100% in agreeance to this project and encourage Gavin and Gordo to take as many as necessary to bring these guys into captivity, but why not reintroduce offspring to these areas that they have been taken from?
 
I'm so happy so see that these snakes still seem to be around in reasonable numbers... just very hard to find. I remember several years ago on this forum, along with others expressing concerns for the future of this snake as there were very few reports of them being around since the toads arrival. In addition plummeting mammal numbers and diversity in the Top End, and very frequent and hot fire regimes were all areas of serious concern for the long term survival of this species. It now seems that at least for the time being they are fairing ok, and it's comforting to know that a captive population will be established and we stand to learn a lot more about them in the near future.

All the best to all those involved in the project and thanks to the Traditional owners for supporting the project and research on this wonderful animal. Look forward to these being available in the near future, but looking forward even more of getting a photo of one in the wild, and now I feel slightly more optimistic about that!

In the words of Rick Shine "To see one of these giant ghostly snakes stretched out on the Arnhem Land escarpment in the moonlight is one of the great sights of Australian herpetology."


But to find a third in less than a week... WOW! I'm still expecting to wake up... This has got to be some kind of a record! LOL

Unfortunately not Gordo! Many many years ago, probably early 90's, a tour guide and his tourists discovered 3 adults curled up together in a small rocky hollow on the edge of the Arnhemland escarpement. They were good sized snakes, 3+ metres. Obviously a breeding trio, they unfortunately disturbed them and draped them all around their necks for photos.:( The photos appeared on their brochures for many years and also in some tourist shopfronts around Darwin
 
Thanks Jungle, great reply.

I was just a little concerned that there may be a few isolated populations in certain areas that taking a few specimens from one area may have a dentremental affect on that isolated population if this is the case.
Take out 2 breeding females and a male from a certain isolated distributed area may cause the downfall of that population, would you think?
Not having a go in any form because the species as a whole need to be preserved. But replacing a few captive snakes to an area that has been previously harvested at a later date screams logic?
I am 100% in agreeance to this project and encourage Gavin and Gordo to take as many as necessary to bring these guys into captivity, but why not reintroduce offspring to these areas that they have been taken from?
It sounds logical Jeffa, but releasing CB individuals is very rarely done for good reasons. You run the risk of introducing new pathogens such as virus' to the wild populations which could wipe them out. It may also displace any wild individuals. Unless it can be established that the wild population is either extinct or on the verge of extinction and the reasons for that decline have been addressed I can't ever see them releasing any CB individuals. Also if reports are correct these pythons are on the menu for indigenous folk so the population is some what accustomed to losing adult individuals to humans regardless.
 
Unfortunately not Gordo! Many many years ago, probably early 90's, a tour guide and his tourists discovered 3 adults curled up together in a small rocky hollow on the edge of the Arnhemland escarpement. They were good sized snakes, 3+ metres. Obviously a breeding trio, they unfortunately disturbed them and draped them all around their necks for photos.:( The photos appeared on their brochures for many years and also in some tourist shopfronts around Darwin
I was always under the impression that pythons in the wild had more of a passing fling when mating rather than hanging around in breeding trios.
 
I hope you are right JP, I really hope this species does not reduce in numbers from the small few that we have taken. It would be a sad loss to see the decline in the species on a level from taking a few mature animals from the wild. I am really looking forward to seeing these guys in captivity at the same state as RSP's. well done again.
 
Gordo, well done!
My thoughts on why you found this number in a relatively short time goes like this.
Think of the season... are they between seasons?
My work with wild snakes here shows me that they have seasonal haunts for certain reasons.... is the seasonal climate up there (minimal and stable as it is) forcing them to move from feeding grounds to breeding grounds? To my way of thinking they would most likely be sensitive to fairly slight, environmental climatic change.
Once an animal reaches its seasonal haunt, it is less likely to be found. It may be that they are between seasons and therefore mobile. It may pay to follow or radio track an animal or two now. Cheers

My thoughts cement were to do with the unseasonably dry season that's just been (correct me if it wasn't )

Being that most animals in the top end are adapted for both the good and the harsher periods perhaps there is an increased activity pattern that corresponds to the shift in season but also to the increased difficulty they probably faced as it wasn't a good wet and harder on the animals?

Just my thoughts
 
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