World Turtle News

Conservationists Advocate To Prohibit Turtle Trapping In Effort To Conserve Declining State Population Thursday morning was an exciting day for many conservationists, as representatives from several groups attended the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for an important meeting. This was not a waste of time, however. The passionate attendees had a vital mission, to prevent the future decline of their native turtle species. As of […]

Non-native seagrass impacting Caribbean Chelonia mydas A seagrass species from the Red Sea is outcompeting the native seagrass species in the Caribbean, where the green sea turtle lives. These iconic turtles are seeing their grazing areas decline, because they have little interest in the foreign seagrass. Wageningen researchers and colleagues from other research institutions discovered how these large underwater grazers seem to dig their watery

Endangered Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) wild population in Myanmar reaches 15,000 “They had a narrow escape. As prices for star tortoises were high, many people, including children, tried to capture them. But, selling them is illegal. That’s why sellers get very low prices. Children dropped out of school to hunt for tortoises, causing lower education rates and social status in poor communities. According to

Successful Reproduction Of Critically Endangered Asian Turtle A Massive Feat For Conservation Siebenrockiella leytensis is a little-known and studied, highly secretive chelonian native to the Philippines, and unfortunately, this makes it a prime target for poachers since the species fetches an attractive price on the black market. As a result, these turtles are now listed as critically endangered and although there are many reports of

Padre Island National Seashore celebrates Kemp’s ridley sea turtles at Ridley Rendezvous Watching Kemp’s ridley sea turtles hatch in the early morning hours is probably one of the main reasons to go to the Padre Island National Seashore. That’s why the national park service hosted its first Ridley Rendezvous Saturday. More than 100 visitors attended the event to catch a glimpse of baby sea turtles

Confiscated Astrochelys Radiata Finally Arrive At Itampolo TSA Facility After months of hard work following the massive tortoise confiscation in Madagascar, the thousands of rehabilitated Astrochelys Radiata have finally taken up residence at a long-term care TSA facility in Itampolo. This is a massive milestone for all the TSA staff and volunteers as the transfer project has been a two month long endeavor, and nearly

People found digging up sea turtle nest in Sarasota County According to Mote, members of its nighttime sea turtle tagging team saw three people digging into a nest on Nokomis Beach at about 1:30 a.m. July 5. As the Mote team got closer, the people filled in their hole, ran away and could not be identified. One broken egg was left on the surface. It

Creating A Safe Haven For Native Australian Chelonians With The Goal Of Reintroduction Program In the northernmost part of Victoria, Australia is a plethora of incredible and beautiful ecosystems which support a wide variety of interesting as well as endangered wildlife. This region also supports three of Australia’s native turtles species, and two organizations, North Central Catchment Management Authority and Turtles Australia, have joined forces

Threatened turtles of the Pearl River The Pearl River system hosts two unique turtle species: the Ringed Sawback (Graptemys oculifera) and the Pearl Map Turtle (Graptemys pearlensis). Neither of these species can be found anywhere else in the world… only the Pearl River system of Mississippi and Louisiana! The Ringed Sawback was designated as federally threatened in 1986, while the Pearl Map Turtle was petitioned