World’s tiniest snake is found, 20 years after it went missing

“The world’s smallest snake has been rediscovered in Barbados, 20 years after its last sighting,” reports The Guardian:

The Barbados threadsnake, which had been feared extinct, was rediscovered under a rock in the center of the island during an ecological survey in March by the environment ministry and the conservation organization Re:wild.

The reptile can reach up to 10cm [4 inches] in length when it is fully grown and is as thin as a strand of spaghetti. It had been on a global list of 4,800 plants, animals and fungi species that have been lost to science….

The threadsnake reproduces sexually and the females lay only one egg at a time, unlike some other reptiles that can produce fertile eggs without mating.

With 98% of the island’s forest having been cleared for agriculture since it was colonized more than 500 years ago, conservationists are concerned for the reptile’s extinction from habitat destruction and invasive species.

A rare beetle has been bred in captivity for the first time, raising hopes that it will avoid becoming extinct.

A giant fish believed to be extinct was found in the Mekong River in Southeast Asia.

Bengal tigers are making a comeback in Bangladesh.

Kazakhstan’s snow leopard population has doubled in recent years.

Wild horses recently returned to Kazakhstan last year after being absent for two hundred years.

Crocodiles are making a comeback in Cambodia.

Giant river otters have returned to Argentine wetlands where they were wiped out 40 years ago.