World Turtle News

There Is Hope For The Rafetus swinhoei The Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle is the most endangered species of turtle of the world. Only one female is remaining as far was we know and she is estimated to be over 100 years old. Since 2008, numerous attempt have been conducted in order to breed this species. Each year the female has laid eggs which, unfortunately, were

Gopher Tortoise Habitats the Focus of More Conservation Work The habitats of Gopher Tortoises will be the focus of more conservation efforts, thanks to nearly $1 million in federal grants. The project is taking place in long-leaf pine ecosystems, the prime habitat for Gopherus polyphemus, in six Southeastern states: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the corner of South Carolina. The gopher tortoise is considered

Gopher Tortoise Receives a Boost in Georgia The population of Gopher tortoise in Georgia will get a boost of 153 new specimens at Yuchi Wildlife Management Area near Waynesboro. This is the biggest release in Georgia. The current population of adult Gopher Tortoise is about 80 while it is required to have at least 250 adult to have a sustainable population. A human intervention is

Operation Jairo May 31st marked the two year anniversary of the murder of Jairo Mora Sandoval whilst he was protecting sea turtles from poaches. While this was a shocking event things have changed, the patrols now have police protection and seaturtle eggs are being saved. Filmmaker David Weintraub is drawing national attention with ‘Call of the Ancient Mariner’ documentary. See the three stories at the

Seaturtle saved from fishing net The video of the seaturtle being cut free from a fishing net is a stark reminder about the junk floating in the oceans. A vet performs a rather nice repair of a box turtle’s shell with dental wire and bondi. Western Painted turtle eggs are being overrun by knapweed in British Columbia and volunters are being recruited to pull up

Our Trash Takes a Life We shouldn’t need reminders to pick up our trash and clean up after ourselves. Especially these kind of reminders. A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle has lost its life to abandoned fishing line, possibly one of the most dangerous things to leave behind at the end of a fishing excursion. This particular turtle ended up caught in the line which was

Turtles May Help Understand The Effect Of BPA On Humans BPA is pretty common in our daily routine. It is mostly used to make water bottles and food can liners and its effect on humans is not yet well known. All we know so far is that it has estrogenic properties. Because turtles metabolizes estrogen the same way humans do, they are being studied to

Diamondback Terrapin Die-off Remains a Mystery Researchers have discovered the Diamondback Terrapins from the massive die-off in New York died after becoming paralyzed. This is one of the symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) that results from high levels of saxitoxin, a marine biotoxin. have reached record levels, but the die-off of the local Diamondback Terrapin population is still covered in a shroud a mystery.