569 Radiated Tortoises Seized

[Baoh]

Oh my lord! SO MANY! I'm glad that they got caught. The good news is that the torts are handled by the tortoise conservation and many will go back to the wild!

Where they will likely die.

I am not a proponent of the smuggling, but the other end is not exactly a bed of roses, either.

Yes, but even if only 10% of them survive to breeding age, that's 56 critically endangered tortoises that give the species a chance at survival in the wild. If they are kept in captivity, it's ZERO.

One problem with this notion is the idea of an intact "wild".

 

[tortadise]

Sad to see this. Boah and eric have the correct views in this. Madagascar is an emdemic to these animals having none to hardly any "wild" left. The radiated will be eminently extinct in 20 years if not earlier from "native" lands. The yniphora is already completely removed from its natural range. They are in chain link and barbed wire camps with armed gaurds in a tropical region not to their native fauna and having difficulties in controlled breeding. Madagascar is a very sad situation.

 

[shellysmom]

Sad to see this. Boah and eric have the correct views in this. Madagascar is an emdemic to these animals having none to hardly any "wild" left. The radiated will be eminently extinct in 20 years if not earlier from "native" lands. The yniphora is already completely removed from its natural range. They are in chain link and barbed wire camps with armed gaurds in a tropical region not to their native fauna and having difficulties in controlled breeding. Madagascar is a very sad situation.

Wow, that's sad. I mean, I knew Madagascar was kind of a conservation mess, but I didn't realize it's so hopeless and past the point of no return. Poor

 

[EricIvins]

Sad to see this. Boah and eric have the correct views in this. Madagascar is an emdemic to these animals having none to hardly any "wild" left. The radiated will be eminently extinct in 20 years if not earlier from "native" lands. The yniphora is already completely removed from its natural range. They are in chain link and barbed wire camps with armed gaurds in a tropical region not to their native fauna and having difficulties in controlled breeding. Madagascar is a very sad situation.

Wow, that's sad. I mean, I knew Madagascar was kind of a conservation mess, but I didn't realize it's so hopeless and past the point of no return. Poor

Just like most African Conservation projects, it is conservation by AK-47 that will save enough of these animals for future generations to see......

 

[tortadise]

Sad to see this. Boah and eric have the correct views in this. Madagascar is an emdemic to these animals having none to hardly any "wild" left. The radiated will be eminently extinct in 20 years if not earlier from "native" lands. The yniphora is already completely removed from its natural range. They are in chain link and barbed wire camps with armed gaurds in a tropical region not to their native fauna and having difficulties in controlled breeding. Madagascar is a very sad situation.

Wow, that's sad. I mean, I knew Madagascar was kind of a conservation mess, but I didn't realize it's so hopeless and past the point of no return. Poor

Just like most African Conservation projects, it is conservation by AK-47 that will save enough of these animals for future generations to see......

Yep I watched a documentary on the afican cave elephants and how a pair of congonese luitenants primary job was to gaurd, follow, and do whatever neccesary to save the dwindling number of those elephants. Lets just say they had a license to kill. Sad what we as humans have done to our wild.

 

[tortoises101]

Oh my lord! SO MANY! I'm glad that they got caught. The good news is that the torts are handled by the tortoise conservation and many will go back to the wild!

Where they will likely die.

I am not a proponent of the smuggling, but the other end is not exactly a bed of roses, either.

Yes, but even if only 10% of them survive to breeding age, that's 56 critically endangered tortoises that give the species a chance at survival in the wild. If they are kept in captivity, it's ZERO.

The chances of any Tortoise surviving on Madagascar in the next 20-30 years is next to none........That is reality......The Koreans own the Island, and the native customs that protected these Tortoises are not practiced anymore. The only Tortoises that will survive on the Island are going to be under the protection of armed Rangers. Assurance colonies have already been stolen in situ..........

It's a bit of a farfetched idea, but maybe the Koreans will realize the ecological value of Madagascar and protect the wildlife? Madagascar is really too precious to lose...

 

[shellysmom]

Oh my lord! SO MANY! I'm glad that they got caught. The good news is that the torts are handled by the tortoise conservation and many will go back to the wild!

Where they will likely die.

I am not a proponent of the smuggling, but the other end is not exactly a bed of roses, either.

Yes, but even if only 10% of them survive to breeding age, that's 56 critically endangered tortoises that give the species a chance at survival in the wild. If they are kept in captivity, it's ZERO.

The chances of any Tortoise surviving on Madagascar in the next 20-30 years is next to none........That is reality......The Koreans own the Island, and the native customs that protected these Tortoises are not practiced anymore. The only Tortoises that will survive on the Island are going to be under the protection of armed Rangers. Assurance colonies have already been stolen in situ..........

It's a bit of a farfetched idea, but maybe the Koreans will realize the ecological value of Madagascar and protect the wildlife? Madagascar is really too precious to lose...

I've been reading up on the issue; it's very interesting. I don't think the leadership there is Korean, specifically, but more like of Asian & African descent. The Malagasy government has made it quite clear that they don't care about the tortoises. And, of course, locals eat them. Lots of them. I think the best bet for the confiscated torts mentioned in this article might be to go in to an assurance colony outside Madagascar... That way when/if things ever change there, and wildlife and natural places will be protected, there will be animals waiting to go back. Here in Florida, we have the Lemur Conservation Foundation, which was established for that reason. Anyway, the Turtle Survival Alliance that posted the original article is amazing, and is involved in chelonian conservation activities all over the world. I'd encourage interested folks to take a look at their website. Really cool stuff...

 

[EricIvins]

Oh my lord! SO MANY! I'm glad that they got caught. The good news is that the torts are handled by the tortoise conservation and many will go back to the wild!

Where they will likely die.

I am not a proponent of the smuggling, but the other end is not exactly a bed of roses, either.

Yes, but even if only 10% of them survive to breeding age, that's 56 critically endangered tortoises that give the species a chance at survival in the wild. If they are kept in captivity, it's ZERO.

The chances of any Tortoise surviving on Madagascar in the next 20-30 years is next to none........That is reality......The Koreans own the Island, and the native customs that protected these Tortoises are not practiced anymore. The only Tortoises that will survive on the Island are going to be under the protection of armed Rangers. Assurance colonies have already been stolen in situ..........

It's a bit of a farfetched idea, but maybe the Koreans will realize the ecological value of Madagascar and protect the wildlife? Madagascar is really too precious to lose...

The Koreans bought the mining and logging rights to just about all the Island. Even land that was set aside in the name of "Conservation" is not safe........So tell me, do the Koreans care about the endemic wildlife?

It doesn't take too much digging to find what the Loggers have done to the Tortoise population in many areas, among other things.......

 

[tortadise]

Where they will likely die.

I am not a proponent of the smuggling, but the other end is not exactly a bed of roses, either.

Yes, but even if only 10% of them survive to breeding age, that's 56 critically endangered tortoises that give the species a chance at survival in the wild. If they are kept in captivity, it's ZERO.

The chances of any Tortoise surviving on Madagascar in the next 20-30 years is next to none........That is reality......The Koreans own the Island, and the native customs that protected these Tortoises are not practiced anymore. The only Tortoises that will survive on the Island are going to be under the protection of armed Rangers. Assurance colonies have already been stolen in situ..........

It's a bit of a farfetched idea, but maybe the Koreans will realize the ecological value of Madagascar and protect the wildlife? Madagascar is really too precious to lose...

The Koreans bought the mining and logging rights to just about all the Island. Even land that was set aside in the name of "Conservation" is not safe........So tell me, do the Koreans care about the endemic wildlife?

It doesn't take too much digging to find what the Loggers have done to the Tortoise population in many areas, among other things.......

Yep same scenario with the Chinese in Argentina. Patagonian Chaco tortoise is almost exctinct in those regions of logging and clearing. Argentina all they did was put a ban on handling, exporting, or keeping that species. No conservation efforts are in place down in Patagonian desert for conservation of this species, just a ban. Well that does absolutely no good at.

 

[tortoises101]

Actually, the president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina had put the land deal off 3 years ago. The outcome is still uncertain, but this means good news for the already-stressed island wildlife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7952628.stm

 

[tortadise]

Problem being is the inland species of tortoises are already severly vulnerable to numerous threats aside from logging. The PAA and PAB were so over exported that in the years 2000-2004 they almost were all collected from the wild. Then southern regions of PB and PP still faced loggin issues. As well as locals eating these as delicecy doesnt help. Something serious needs to be done with That Island. I agree it might help for the meantime of possibly stopping the contract. But that doesnt stop locals from burning the fields for higher nitrogen levels in the soil for plant propagation. Thats a major detriment to even lemurs, ground boas, tree boas, and numerous chameleons.

 

[EricIvins]

Actually, the president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina had put the land deal off 3 years ago. The outcome is still uncertain, but this means good news for the already-stressed island wildlife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7952628.stm

That Article was put out in 2009......

Articles from 2010......Read on......

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0405-hance_radiated.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0127-madagascar.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0211-madagascar.html