Collecting samples from radiated tortoises

A team from the TSA has spent most of the month of March in Madagascar, working on a variety of conservation projects. Despite their busy schedules and rugged conditions, they have managed to send us a couple of updates for the TSA blog!

 

Check out Brian Horne's blog by clicking here or read Rick Hudson's trip report here. They are just finishing up their trip now, so more updates detailing the last half of their adventures will be up soon!

As we told you in the last newsletter, one of the biggest undertakings the TSA is facing in the near future 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 seized approximately 1,300 turtles, including some endangered species, and did not have the resources to house or care for the animals. KFBG was told that if they could not help to mobilize resources immediately, the animals would be put down. Read more about the details of the confiscation by clicking here.
 
The TSA has been hard at work lining up facilities in the US to receive these animals and finalizing details regarding their shipment and care. We'd like to take a moment to thank all of you who have already donated to this critical project! For those who still wish to do so, a donation link has been created on the TSA website. Donations to this fund will support the shipment, medical care and placement of these turtles. Given not only the sheer number, but also the size of some of these turtles, shipment costs are anticipated to be high and any support that you could provide would be appreciated. The TSA prides itself on its ability to respond quickly to wildlife crises and we can only do so with your support!
 
More details on the animals that will be received by the TSA and placement will be available in the near future. Keep an eye on the newsletter and website for more information.

The Turtle Survival Aliance is pleased to announce the opening of the Chelonian Visitor Center in Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam. The visitor center represents the region's first visitor interpretation center focused exclusively on the conservation of turtles and freshwater turtles. The new educational facilities incorporate a range of interpretive displays and exhibits including underwater viewing tanks, a turtle egg incubation and hatchling room, and a mock hunting camp and forest trail.

 

The center was developed by the park, in partnership with Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV). The project received technical support from the Asian Turtle Conservation Program at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and received financial support from the TSA and many other conservation organizations. To read the full press release from ENV, please click here. A news story about the opening from Vietnam Net is available here.

Dr. Gerald Kuchling and the rest of team TSA will be headed back to the Suzhou Zoo in April for the third breeding attempt of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), one of the most endangered turtles in the world. (Click here to read more on the background of this historic conservation project.)

 

Hopes are high this year for a number of reasons. First of all, the turtles' diet has been significantly improved and they have been receiving more optimal nutrition for long enough now that we believe it will be reflected in healthier eggs. In addition, the turtles will soon begin receiving a pelleted feed produced by Mazuri Exotic Animal Nutrition, a company that has had a long relationship with the TSA, having donated pallets of turtle and tortoise diet to assist with a 2001 confiscation and sponsored several TSA conferences. For this project, Mazuri has donated eight bags of their crocodile diet, which we believe will help provide some of the mineral and trace elements that may have been lacking from the Rafetus' previous diet. Four bags are currently in transport by sea and the TSA is currently seeking funds (or a sponsorship) to transport the remaining four bags by air carrier to Hong Kong.
 
There are several people that made the donation of this feed (and the inclusion of the feed in the turtles' diet) possible and we'd like to extend our thanks to all of them: Lonnie McCaskill (TSA/Disney's Animal Kingdom), David Salmon and Liz Koutsos, PhD (Mazuri), Tan Kit Sun (Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden), Adrian Lau (Totoro Supplies), Gary Ades, Chen Daqing (Suzhou Zoo), Eduardo V. Valdés, PhD (WDW Animal Programs), Gerald Kuchling PhD (TSA/University of Western Australia) and Lu Shunqing PhD (WCS).
 
In addition to the diet improvements, the barrier that the TSA sponsored around the breeding pond last year has limited the amount of trash ingested by the female - an issue that was a significant problem before. The TSA is currently seeking funding to build a similar barrier around the larger Rafetus pond. Having a barrier around this pond as well would allow for more flexibility in managing these animals and limit the amount of litter that they are exposed to in both of their holding areas.