George captured Cassius in 1987 from a river in the Northern Territory, where he was notorious for his huge size - and was under threat of being hunted down and killed by the local population.

Cassisus, who is missing his front left leg and tip of his tail due to vicious fights, was deemed a massive threat to humans after attacking boats.

So George set about capturing him to save his life, and bringing him to live in his sanctuary.

If the tortoises, pythons, monkeys, pigs, and other wildlife that call the park home are to have any chance at a future, it'll have to be one where humans and wildlife learn how to accept each other's presence, despite the damage and take that will occur on both sides. Over the course of my nine days in Lawachara, I found that the Bangladesh Python Project had made impressive strides in moving towards coexistence, and that it had a long, long ways to go.

Investigators observed the virus, which they named ball python nidovirus, in eight snakes with pneumonia; virus levels were highest in the animals' lungs and other respiratory tract tissues. The team also sequenced the genome of the virus, finding it to be the largest of any RNA virus yet described.

Ball pythons have become one of the most popular types of reptiles sold and kept as pets, the authors said, because of their relatively modest size, docile behavior and ease of care. Respiratory disease has been noted in these animals since the 1990s but until now a potential cause has not been identified, said senior study author Joseph L. DeRisi, PhD, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, in part because of the limitations of available technology.

The release of the crocodiles is part of the Community-based Crocodile Recovery and Livelihood Improvement Project, designed and implemented by WCS’s Lao PDR Program. ”The program has three key objectives,” WCS explained in its statement today, “contributing to local livelihoods by improving coordination of water resource use and zoning of lands used in local agriculture; conserving and restoring crocodile wetland habitat important for local livelihoods, crocodiles, and other species; and replenishing the crocodile population in the wetland complex and surveying and monitoring the current population.”

The program has worked with nine villages – each village has a “Village Crocodile Conservation Group” (VCCG) to coordinate implementation of program activities in the Xe Champone wetland complex and surrounding areas.

Bats are dying from the white-nose disease, which has killed an estimated 5.7 million bats and driven one species found in Georgia to the brink of extinction. Researchers plan to count the bat population in Rabun County next week as part of the effort to monitor the disease. Experienced volunteers are welcome to participate.

Now snakes are a concern. The first wild snake in Georgia to be diagnosed with snake fungal disease was found on the edge of a blackwater swamp near Statesboro, and the implication is the disease could be spreading.

The fungus associated with white-nose disease shares similarities with the one connected to snake fungal disease, including that it occurs naturally in soil, according to a statement from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The young snake appears to belong to the Coluber genus of thin-bodied, fast-moving snakes commonly known as racers. Cuneyt Alpguven, who works at Antalya Aquarium's reptile house, says two-headed snakes are very rare and have little chance of surviving in the wild. "Being two-headed is a major disadvantage, because its anatomical structure makes it more vulnerable to attacks while it also draws the attention of predators."

She was the second tortoise in a Game and Fish study to have a transmitter affixed to her, which had been providing researchers information about the reclusive reptile's movements since 2010. Fourteen other juvenile tortoises in the program have transmitters.

Anyone with information about this killing can call the department's Operation Game Thief hotline toll-free at (800) 352-0700 or visit www.azgfd.gov/thief and refer to case #14-002388. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

The pair run the Kentucky Reptile Zoo full-time, a non-profit relying solely on people coming through the gates and the sale of venom.

Kristen added: "Almost any venomous snake is capable of causing severe injury but you are pretty unlikely to die if you get appropriate medical care.

"It's unlikely here as we do everything we can to get appropriate care and have anti-venom on site for everything anti-venom is made for.

"We both believe what we're doing is a good thing - it saves lives."

Acknowledging his decade-long efforts, he was recently given official permission to rescue snakes by the Chief Wildlife Warden with the support of the Conservator of Forest.

“On an average, I rescue five to six snakes in a day. But some days, I get more than 30 calls and it is difficult for me attend to all of them,” said Kiran. In order to address this issue, Kiran has recently registered his society called ‘Snakes Saver Society’ and formed a team with 16 other members, whom he has trained to catch and rescue snakes. “We now want to reach out to city schools and colleges and conduct awareness workshops on snakes and how to be safe,” he said. “There are about 250 species of snakes found in the region, but only a handful of them are venomous,” he said.