TSA Assisting with Illegal Turtle Shipment Seized in Hong Kong
One of the biggest undertakings the TSA is facing in the coming weeks is one that we couldn’t have planned for – a major confiscation of smuggled turtles and tortoises in Hong Kong. Our friends at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) in Hong Kong contacted us in February seeking our assistance. The government had […]
Team TSA in Asia, August/September 2009
This report is the second to chronicle the daily activities of a TSA team’s visit to four countries in Asia ‚Äì Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines – to design turtle facilities, develop conservation programs, and consult on turtle husbandry issues. The team is led by Rick Hudson and includes Bill Zeigler, Lonnie McCaskill and Dave […]
Close Call for the World’s Last Rafetus swinhoei in the Wild
Torrential monsoon rains caused rivers to spill over their banks and brought water in lakes and reservoirs to capacity throughout northern Vietnam. It was mid-November 2008 and Team Rafetus Vietnam had just completed a series of awareness activities in local communities surrounding Dong Mo Lake (located about 60 km west of Hanoi) where the world’s […]
Ground breaking procedure gives new hope for the survival of Rafetus
by Howard Goldstein, Rick Hudson and Paul Calle On April 7, 2016 Dr. Gerald Kuchling (TSA) performed for the first time that we know of a surgical artificial insemination (AI) procedure on a reptile. This innovative procedure was a historic attempt to save the world’s most critically endangered turtle, the Yangtze Giant Softshell (Rafetus swinhoei). […]
Rafetus swinhoei Update, May 2017
TSA and partners coordinate a third artificial insemination attempt of the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle in China By Dr. Gerald Kuchling Semen collection by electro-ejaculation and artificial insemination of the last pair of Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) in China unfortunately did not produce any fertilized eggs in 2015 and 2016, therefore we continue […]
Rafetus Swinhoei Update
It is with great disappointment that TSA must report that the latest attempt to artificially inseminate the last known female Yangtze Giant Softshell Rafetus swinhoei, has proven unsuccessful. With only three known individuals remaining, two in captivity in China and one in a lake in Vietnam, R. swinhoei has the dubious distinction of being the […]
The Globalization of the Turtle Trade
The Asian turtle crisis, driven largely by market demand from China, has decimated tortoise and freshwater turtle populations throughout Asia in recent decades. When wild populations were effectively exhausted locally, the trade expanded globally and began to put pressure on wild populations in the United States. Given the availability of shipment options, lax harvest regulations […]
Breeding Research project EHAP: Exchanging Experiences on Keeping and Breeding the Madagascar flat-tailed tortoise
The goal of Project EHAP is to conduct research on optimal breeding and husbandry conditions as a contribution to the conservation of the critically endangered Madagascar flat-tailed tortoise (Pyxis planicauda). Husbandry of this species is not well documented or understood, as until recently, this species has rarely been kept outside of Madagascar. This project seeks […]
TSA Programs make an Impact for 20 of the Top 25 Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles – 2018
A newly released report by the TSA and fellow turtle conservation organizations, collectively known as the Turtle Conservation Coalition, entitled “Turtles in Trouble: The World’s 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles ‚Äì 2018” shows that tortoises and freshwater turtles are facing an almost unparalleled extinction crisis. This report indicates that over 50% of all […]
First Captive Breeding of the Burmese Roof Turtle
A high point of the January 2009 workshop was the announcement that a juvenile Batagur trivitatta had been pulled from the adult breeding pond at the Yadanabon Zoo just one week earlier. Apparently hatched in 2008 from an undetected nest, the specimen is in the same size class as a cohort of 2008 wild-hatched juveniles […]
Second breeding attempt for Rafetus swinhoei in China leads to cautious optimism
The epic move of the last Chinese female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) from Changsha Zoo to the last Chinese male at the Suzhou Zoo in 2008 resulted in successful mating, producing two clutches totalling over one hundred eggs. Despite this success, unfortunately none of the eggs hatched. About half the eggs of the […]
Team TSA in Asia – August 2009
This report is the first to chronicle the daily activities of a TSA team’s visit to four countries in Asia ‚Äì Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines – to design turtle facilities, develop conservation programs, and consult on turtle husbandry issues. The team is led by Rick Hudson and includes Lonnie McCaskill and Dave Manser. The […]
