Poachers Apprehended in Madagascar
Herilala Randriamahazo (TSA’s full-time Malagasy Tortoise Conservation Coordinator) has only been at work in his new position for a little over a month. However, he has already been able to assist with the apprehension of radiated tortoise poachers – saving a number of tortoises before they were killed. A meeting of several conservation organizations was […]
Playing Soccer for Endangered Tortoises
TSA Madagascar recently participated in a very special event to raise awareness for the endangered radiated tortoise. A soccer tournament was organized and sponsored in Antananarivo on December 11-12 by Eco-Sys Actions and Salamandra Nature (conservation NGOs) and their partners. The main objective of the event, held at Alarobia Stadium, was to raise public awareness […]
Additional Turtles Acquired in Bangladesh
by¬†Heather Lowe The TSA team is still hard at work in Bangladesh, plying the markets and private ponds in search of the extremely rare Sundarbans river terrapin (Batagur baska). Their efforts were recently rewarded, as they secured another female and two additional males, bringing the total to ten males and three females in the breeding […]
TSA Implements Emergency Measures for Batagur
by¬†Rick Hudson and Brian Horne¬† November 7, 2010: “We succeeded in securing an additional three males however we missed saving one male by 5 minutes as it was slaughtered at the market. If we had been just a few minutes earlier we could have stopped it from being slaughtered, but unfortunately we arrived after they […]
On the Cusp of a TSA South America Program
Brian Horne and Rick Hudson represented the TSA recently at a South American turtle Red-listing workshop in Brazil, joining scientists and conservationists gathered to evaluate the conservation status of the tortoises and freshwater turtles of South America for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Spending at least ten days on a boat traveling down […]
Tocc Tocc Reserve Established in Senegal
The first nature reserve dedicated to the conservation of nesting and foraging habitat of Adanson’s mud terrapin (Pelusios adansonii) has been created with the help of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA Africa) and the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection of Senegal. This refuge, the Tocc Tocc Reserve, is located in the wetland area on […]
Softshell Turtle Surveys Conducted in India
Student Shashwat Sirsi recently completed softshell turtle surveys in the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh , focusing on the endemic, poorly known and highly endangered Leith’s softshell,¬†Nilssonia leithi.¬† The surveys were funded by a seed grant from the TSA and completed with the support of TSA India and our partner, the Madras […]
Belize Mobilizes for the Endangered Hicatee Turtle
On December 7, 2010, the first ever Hickatee Conservation Forum and Workshop was held at the University of Belize (UB), Belmopan Campus. The event was organized by the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), in collaboration with the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE), the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at UB and the Belize Fisheries […]
Winterizing Endangered Turtle Facilities in India
Personnel at the Garhaita Turtle Conservation Center have been hard at work winterizing the headstart facilities for endangered turtles, especially Batagur kachuga. (You can read about the “green” headstarting enclosure on page 51 of the 2010 TSA Magazine.) The facility on the Chambal River uses a bio-filtration system which is powered by a solar water […]
Confiscated Temple Turtles Arrive in Florida
Fifty Yellow-Headed Temple Turtles have arrived in Florida to begin a new life after being rescued from an illegal wildlife shipment in Hong Kong. Had the turtles been successfully smuggled into China, they would have been killed to satisfy the large demand for turtle meat and turtle parts used in Chinese medicine. An endangered species, […]
New Construction in Myanmar
by¬†Rick Hudson¬† Rick Hudson, Lonnie McCaskill and Kalyar Platt recently returned from a successful trip to Myanmar where they finalized construction plans and budgets with local architects. All total, over $60,000 will be spent over the next three months on new turtle and tortoise facilities at Lawkananda Wildlife Sanctuary in Bagan and the Yadanabon Zoo […]
World’s Rarest Eggs Fail to Develop
The female Rafetus nested this year during the night of June 16 (63 eggs), again during the night of July 2 (63 eggs), and laid a third clutch on July 17. All eggs of the first two clutches were numbered and about half of those eggs were artificially incubated (29, 31 and 33 degrees Celsius, […]
