Tortoise's Beauty Contributing to Its Downfall

(Credit: Julie Larsen Maher/Wildlife Conservation Society)

Biologists who recently returned from field surveys in southern Madagascar's spiny forest, where the once-abundant tortoises live, predict that unless drastic conservation measures take place, the species will be driven to extinction within the next 20 years.

Entire regions were found to be devoid of the tortoises. Locals informed the scientists that armed bands of poachers had taken away truckloads of tortoises to supply open meat markets in towns such as Beloha and Tsihombe. Remains of the poached tortoises were also found at processing sites where authorities recently seized the meat.

“Areas where scores of radiated tortoises could be seen just a few years ago have been poached clean,” said James Deutsch, director of the WCS's Africa Program. “Back then, one could hardly fathom that this beautiful tortoise could ever become endangered, but such is the world we live in, and things can – and do – change rapidly.”

“The rate of hunting of radiated tortoises is similar to the hunting pressure on American bison during the early 19th century, where they were nearly hunted to extinction when they once numbered in the tens of millions,” said Brian D. Horne, turtle conservation coordinator for the WCS's Species Program. 

He and his colleagues noticed that poachers are moving ever closer to areas where the tortoises are protected, but locals are not well equipped to properly enforce the existing laws against hunting the species.

“Radiated tortoises are truly under siege now as never before, and if we can’t draw a line in the sand around protected areas, then we will lose this species,” said Rick Hudson, president of the TSA. “I can’t think of a tortoise species that has undergone a more rapid rate of decline in modern times, or a more drastic contraction in range, than the radiated tortoise. This is a crisis situation of the highest magnitude.”

The radiated tortoise's population used to number in the millions. Now, the IUCN Red List ranks this species as being Critically Endangered.

According to the WCS, the situation is exacerbated by several factors:

• Years of extreme drought have led to diminished agricultural production and increased poverty, which leads people to tortoise hunting for survival.
• Enforcement action is often days away so that local officials do not have the capacity to stop poachers.
• Severe habitat degradation has made the spiny forest the most endangered forest type in Madagascar. After burning and clearing for agriculture, invasive plant species take over. Today, thick stands of opuntia (prickly pear) and sisal (agave) dominate the landscape.
• Current political instability has resulted in an increased open access to natural resources and illegal pet trade.

Community mobilization linked to sustainable habitat protection is needed to save this unique critically endangered species, according to the researchers. While protecting the tortoises in the wild is at the forefront of conservation efforts, breeding programs are already underway here in the U.S., at places like the Bronx Zoo's Behler Chelonian Conservation Center. 

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