A Spanish island has summoned world experts to help it stamp out an invasion of white snakes that threaten to eat all its rare lizards, a conservationist said Tuesday.

Rangers on Gran Canaria, the biggest of Spain's Canary Islands, have killed thousands of Californian Kingsnakes, which have spawned from pet snakes that slithered into the wild.

The snakes pose no threat to humans but have been munching up other creatures such as the rare Gran Canaria Giant Lizard, environmentalist Ramon Gallo, head of a project to control the snake population, told AFP.

"That lizard is unique to Gran Canaria and if the snakes end up spreading all over the island they will make it an endangered species," he said.

"We are talking about saving the Canary Island's biodiversity, which is one of the greatest assets the islands have for the world. The Canaries are a biological laboratory and the snakes are putting at risk one of its most important species."

Gallo's team won EU funding in 2011 for a four-year campaign to cull the snakes. On Thursday and Friday it will host international experts, including US snake specialists, for a conference to raise awareness of the threat.

He said the snakes were first detected in the wild on Gran Canaria in 1998, apparently spawned from a small number of pets that made it into the bush. The Kingsnake is a popular pet, growing to no longer than 1.8 metres (just under six feet).

They thrived in the mild, sunny climate of Gran Canaria, where they found no natural predators and plenty to eat -- chiefly lizards, which they corner or squeeze to death.

The kingsnakes come in various colours, but in the main area where they live on Gran Canaria, most of them are the albino type -- white with light yellow stripes and pink eyes.

Since 2007, Gallo said, about 2,000 of them have been killed -- clubbed to death by rangers or members of the public, or caught by trained falcons, dogs or in traps.

But uncounted swarms of them are thought to be living out of sight underground, he added.

The International Seminar on the Management of Invasive Exotic Reptiles runs from May 8 to 9 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Nebraska officials confirm first case of mountain lion killing
Brewster, N.H. (UPI) May 6, 2013 - Officials with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have confirmed that a mountain lion killed a calf at a cattle farm in Blaine County late last week.

The mountain lion dragged apparently took its prey from a calving corral, dragged it into a shelter-belt and fed on its dinner in privacy.

Nebraska officials said a wildlife expert examined the carcass and the scene of the killing. Scat left by the predator was collected and sent to a federal genetics laboratory. Just as the state's expert had suggested, the lab results confirmed the presence of a mountain lion.

According to state law, the cattle farm owner has a 30-day license to kill the mountain lion, should it return and attempt to pick off any more calves.

This is the first confirmed livestock killing by the impressive mammal since mountain lions largely disappeared from the East and Midwest during the first half of the 20th century. But mountain lions, or cougars, have been making a dramatic comeback across much of the country.

Earlier this year, a Nebraska farmer shot and killed a 30-pound female mountain lion as she approached his chicken coop. The farmer told officials the cougar stood her ground when approached and refused to be scared off.