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On the Cusp of a TSA South American 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 the Amazon River with the South American contingent, they used the opportunity to become familiar with the players in turtle conservation in those countries, and to discuss needs and priority areas.
Click here to read about the results of the workshop and what this means for a potential TSA expansion in South America. |
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Major Project Expansion in Brazil
Today Dick Vogt of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) today announced that the Center for the Study of Amazon Turtles (CEQUA) in Brazil has just received a two million dollar (USD) grant from Petrobras, a major oil company in Brazil. The grant will support a major turtle conservation and awarenesss program aimed at the largest turtle consuming population in Brazil, the city of Manaus. The grant was written by Dick and his students and is renewable after two years. Funds are also allocated to construct and operate a turtle conservation education center in Manaus, and we are pleased to announce that the TSA has been invited to provide the technical input on live turtle facilities and husbandry protocols.
Besides the base in Manaus, CEQUA will be developing an intensive conservation education program for the local communities along the Trombetas river. In the field, they will continue their work with behavior and ecology of Trombetas River turtles and this new funding will allow them to put sonar transmitters on hatchlings and adults and document their daily migration movements. We'll keep you posted on this project as plans develop. |
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Sad News from Bangladesh
 Brian Horne and Rupali Ghose are busy plying the fish and turtle markets in Bangladesh trying to rescue Northern River Terrapins (Batagur baska) for our rescue and captive breeding program. This species, considered to be the most endangered in India, has been wiped out from most of its range due to hunting for local consumption and trade. Fewer than 20 specimens are known in captivity. They have already successfully acquired two males this trip, expanding the TSA group to 7 males and 2 females. They continue to run down leads on large females that have survived long term in scattered village ponds. Brian reported that they reached the market 15 minutes too late on Thursday (their driver was late) to save a male - it was being slaughtered as they arrived. These quotes from Brian can only begin to describe the carnage of this market, the photos of which are simply too gruesome to post:
"I'm really distressed after seeing probably 10,000+ turtles being slaughtered. It was a 1000 times more gruesome than anything I have ever seen in China! Looking through my pictures from this morning I'm pretty sure there were at least Nilssonia nigricans slaughtered as well. I sifted through a pile of hundreds of softshell heads, the majority were N. hurum, followed by Lissemys, then N. gangeticus. It is hard to tell as the heads were pretty hacked up. Today was the single biggest day of the year for this market. We counted 23 sellers. I estimated about 10,000 turtles but Rupali put the number much higher." |
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Temple Turtles Arrive in Florida
Fifty yellow-headed temple turtles that were part of a major confiscation in Hong Kong in February have arrived safely in their new home in Florida!
After months of planning and logistics (and very generous donations from TSA members!), the turtles arrived in Atlanta on October 20 and were met by the TSA's new Director of Animal Management, Cris Hagen. Click here to read the full story. Or, check out the video about the import on YouTube. |
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Welcome Aboard!
The TSA has welcomed three new board members in the past few months: Russell Mittermeier (Conservation International), Michael Fouraker (Fort Worth Zoo) and Bill Dennler (Retired, Toledo Zoo). Visit the Board of Directors page on the TSA website to learn more about them and the wealth of experience they bring to the TSA. |
