News & Events

AZA SAFE Radiated Tortoise Program Featured in AZA Connect

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction (AZA SAFE) Radiated Tortoise program is a huge conservation boon for Turtle Survival Alliance. Thousands of Radiated Tortoises have been saved from trafficking, rehabilitated, and reintroduced into protected areas thanks to support from the AZA SAFE.

AZA featured our work with the Radiated Tortoise in their most recent edition of Connect. Our Radiated Tortoise program was an inaugural recipient of the SAFE Granting program in 2019. Since then, we’ve achieved and surpassed numerous conservation goals with this critically endangered species.

“The 2019 SAFE radiated tortoise is dedicated to long-term impact and positive change. Radiated tortoises once had a population on the island of Madagascar estimated to be 12 million. Today, their population is likely below two million. The sharp decline results from habitat fragmentation, degradation, and poaching.

Following significant confiscations in 2018, Turtle Survival Alliance was responsible for managing close to 26,000 radiated tortoises that had been confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade. With grants from the SAFE Granting Program and the Disney Conservation Fund, the Turtle Survival Alliance launched the first large-scale reintroduction of radiated tortoises in Madagascar.”

Read the full article here!

Header image and cover image courtesy of Lance Paden.