Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does It Matter?

by¬†Jordan Gray¬† For Immediate Release September 19, 2018 TURTLE BIOLOGISTS OUTLINE ECOLOGICAL REPERCUSSIONS OF A WORLD WITHOUT TURTLES Charleston, South Carolina ‚Äì Daudin’s Giant Tortoise. Floreana Giant Tortoise. Viesca Mud Turtle. Pinta Giant Tortoise. Reunion Giant Tortoise. In just the last 200 years, these five species of chelonian have disappeared from the Earth forever‚Äîand an […]

TSA Board Members Inspect the New Facilities in Myanmar

by¬†Heather Lowe¬† From January 2009 to September 2010, TSA teams worked in Myanmar to develop concepts and designs for new breeding facilities for key chelonian program species. Building plans and budgets for new turtle and tortoise facilities were finalized in September 2010 and construction got underway shortly thereafter. Members of the TSA Board of Directors […]

TSA Europe Assists with Illegal Turtle Confiscations

by Henk Zwartepoorte Over the past few years in Hong Kong, large numbers of illegally imported and/or traded turtles have been confiscated. On one hand, these confiscations are a good sign of effective law enforcement, but on the other hand it indicates that the mass illegal trade in Asia is on-going. The CITES Hong Kong […]

Hicatee Conservation Workshops in Belize

by¬†Thomas Rainwater¬† Just a quick note to say we just successfully completed the first of two Hicatee (Central American River Turtle, Dermatemys mawii) Survey and Monitoring Workshops in Belize. This first workshop was conducted on the Rio Grande in southern Belize, near the town of Punta Gorda. The second workshop begins tomorrow on the New […]

Finishing Up the Hicatee Workshops in Belize

by¬†Thomas Rainwater¬† We just completed the second of our two Hicatee (Dermatemys mawii) Survey and Monitoring Workshops in Belize. After several days down south for the first workshop, this time we were up north on the New River Lagoon and associated tributaries. New River Lagoon is an approximately 27 mile long lagoon located in north-central […]

Exciting Nesting News for Two Rare Turtle Species

by¬†Heather Lowe¬† The nesting season for wild Asian river terrapins (Batagur) is winding down, just on the heels of the recently completed Batagur workshop in Singapore and Malaysia in February, and we hope that the training will have an impact on hatching success. In Myanmar, Kalyar Platt (TSA Turtle Conservation Coordinator) just returned from the […]

Singapore Turtle Conservation Workshop – Day 2

by¬†Rick Hudson¬† On Tuesday morning – day two of the workshop – the seventy workshop participants reviewed the “Red List,” an internationally recognized database of the world’s most vulnerable species. Participants from countries throughout Asia provided the most up-to-date information on the status of each species. A few were determined to be secure enough now […]

Singapore Workshop Day 3 – Strategizing Conservation Efforts

by Rick Hudson on February 28, 2011 With all the country and trade reports as background information, and with the Red-listing behind us, the stage was finally set for the critical Day 3 of the workshop: designing specific priority conservation actions for the most threatened species. And though I am not at liberty to formally […]

Turtles In Trouble

Click here for a PDF version of the full report. The plight of the planet’s tortoises and turtles — creatures that have roamed the Earth for 220 million years — has never been greater, according to the newly released report “Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles .” It shows the world’s […]

Turtle Conservation Workshop Opens in Singapore

by¬†Rick Hudson¬† We were happy to see some old friends and meet some new ones at the Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles workshop at the Singapore Zoo. Over 70 delegates from 20 countries, including 16 Asian nations were in attendance. Hosted by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore and the Wildlife Conservation Society, in collaboration […]

Rescued Temple Turtle Lays Eggs

by¬†Heather Lowe The group of yellow-headed temple turtles (Hieremys annandalii) that was recently rescued from a confiscation in Hong Kong and imported by the TSA seems to be settling into their new Florida home quite nicely. One of the females recently laid eight eggs in the pond! Kenan Harkin, who is serving as the steward […]

¡Vivan las tortugas de México!

This past week, TSA’s Director of Animal Management, Cris Hagen, visited the states of Durango and Coahuila, Mexico, to familiarize himself with the status of turtle conservation in the north-central region of the country. Spending four days alongside Gamaliel Castaneda, Dean of Biology, University of Ju√°rez in the State of Durango, as well as professors […]