ShellShock – A campaign to save tortoises and turtles |29 August 2005

Fundraising events are being run by most members of EAZA with the aim of supporting turtle and tortoise conservation worldwide.

Some 272 species of turtle and tortoise are currently known to science and more than half of these are listed as either ‘Extinct in the Wild,’ ‘Critically Endangered,’ ‘Endangered’ of ‘Vulnerable to Extinction’ (IUCN Red List 2003). 

For over 250 million years, tortoises have roamed across land and turtles have inhabited streams, rivers and oceans. They were alive and well when the first dinosaurs appeared on earth and were still there when the last dinosaur went extinct. Little did they know that when they witnessed the appearance of our early ancestors, they would be witnessing the arrival of their most deadly predator.

In our long forgotten past when humans lived in small groups, well spread out across the earth, exploitation of tortoises and turtles was at a low level and those hunting them killed only what was needed to satisfy the needs of the day. Today, with trade and money ruling the lives of most of the world’s population of six billion people, we need to be aware that the end is in sight for half of the world’s species of turtles and tortoises unless we can convince the consumers that there is a desperate need to conserve these animals.

They are exploited for their meat, shells, for the pet trade and for traditional medicine. In China some 12 million turtles and tortoises are traded per year, a figure that includes seven million exported from the USA to China.

In a recent article in La Tortue highlighting the plight of the attractive star tortoise – a species that ranges across India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, figures of tortoises confiscated by customs gives some idea of the scale of the problem. About 500 tortoises were found in the baggage of a passenger in Singapore. Another 41 tortoises were confiscated by customs in Kuala Lumpur, 600 confiscated in Bangkok and 350 confiscated in Hong Kong.  These are figures for 2004 only and do not include those that were not detected.

These and many other species are collected from the wild, thus depleting the wild populations and in many cases destroying or damaging their natural habitat. Tortoise populations take a long time to recover from over-exploitation because they are long-lived and have low reproductive rates.

Fortunately the situation for sea turtles and tortoises in Seychelles is not one of great concern. The European Union has a ban on the importation of giant tortoises because of the high mortality rate during transport and within the first year of captivity in Europe. Our terrapins are less secure because of habitat loss, a problem which no-one overseas can solve for us.

An action plan to improve the status of Seychelles terrapins was developed by Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles and steps are being taken to assure their future.

The Seychelles Giant Tortoise Conservation Project run by NPTS on Silhouette may benefit from an association with Blackpool Zoo who are running a ShellShock event and will sell NPTS publications and publicise its work.  This popular British zoo is visited by millions of people every year and is home to Darwin – a large male Seychelles giant tortoise.

Contributed by Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles