Archive for August 2014
Turtle Sampling Sessions Held in Texas and Florida
by Heather Lowe The North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group (NAFTRG) continued its amazing year with two large summer sampling sessions. In July, the group visited Comal Springs, in New Braunfels, Texas for the third time this year. The crew was able to capture and process 442 turtles, representing four species, over the course of three…
Read MoreTSA Commends China and Pakistan on Repatriation
by Heather Lowe On Monday, August 18, 2014, authorities of the People’s Republic of China handed over 204 Black Pond Turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii) to the authorities of Pakistan. The animals, mostly adults, had been confiscated on 15 June 2014 in the Tajik Autonomous County of Taxkorgan, in northwest China’s Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region, which borders Pakistan.…
Read MoreAn Update on the World’s Most Endangered Turtle
by Rick Hudson Gerald Kuchling returned from China recently with news that was not good but not unexpected. The male Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) at the Suzhou Zoo is not getting the job done. With hundreds of eggs laid since 2008 by the Changsha Zoo female, but without hatching or even signs of fertility, frustration has…
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