World Turtle News

Will turtles and tourism always be at loggerheads? The Mediterranean hosts three of the world’s seven turtle species: the green, the leatherback and the loggerhead, though the latter is the only species that nests in Greek waters. All turtle populations in the Mediterranean have been under pressure for decades and suffered outright persecution and hunting through the first half of the 20th century. Whilst actual […]

Turtle Cemetery Discovered in Brazil Açude do Cedro, one of Brazil’s oldest dam is now home for more than 400 carcases of dead turtles killed by the drought. Indeed, the reservoir is empty of water right now. The “seriousness” of the situation was recently exposed by zoologist Hugo Fernandes-Ferreira who launched an urgent investigation on the impacts of the drought on the ecosystem. Turtle News

When Will ‘Mojave Maxine’ Emerge? Mojave Maxine, a desert tortoise at The Living Desert, is celebrating her 9th year of announcing spring has arrived. Students in grades K-12 from throughout Southern California will have the opportunity to predict when the 40-year old desert tortoise, who lives at The Living Desert, will rouse from her brumation (hibernation for reptiles) and make her first appearance of 2017,

Scan results ‘good news’ for health of stranded Lepidochelys olivacea The Anglesey Sea Zoo team were up at 04:00 GMT to accompany Menai on the four-and-a-half hour, 267-mile (429 km) journey to the Hatfield college in a temperature-controlled van to receive a CAT scan. Menai is the first Olive Ridley turtle to be sighted in the UK since records began in 1748. She was severely

Colder weather causing havoc for turtles in the UAE As the colder weather creeps in, conservationists are urging beachgoers to be on the alert for stranded turtles. Warren Baverstock, operations manager for the Aquarium and Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project at the Burj Al Arab, said more turtles were expected to wash up on beaches in the coming weeks. “November to March is the main season

6,325 Wild Turtles Confiscated in India On 10 January 2017, the Special Task Force and Forestry Department in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India confiscated one of the largest illegal turtle seizures in India when it intercepted 6,325 river turtles. Upon the seizure of these animals, the Turtle Survival Alliance was called in to help identify, sort, triage, and ultimately release these animals back into the wild.

Chelonia mydas turtles have lifesaving surgery Most of the 191 Green Sea Turtles that were rescued after being cold stunned during the recent norther have been released, but several were held back for lifesaving surgery. Nearly half of the cold stranded turtles suffered from a potentially deadly virus that caused Fibropapilloma tumors to grow on their flippers, face and other soft tissue areas. A $30,000

595 Batagur borneoensis hatchlings released in Sumatra The Painted Terrapin (Batagur borneoensis ) was once widespread throughout southern Thailand, peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, and Sumatra, Indonesia, but it’s populations have plummeted due to unrestricted hunting, egg collection, and habitat destruction. On 30 December 2016, nearly 600 hatchlings of this critically endangered species were released into native habitat in the District of Aceh Tamiang, Sumatra,

Ancient DNA extracted from 1,000-year-old extinct tortoise from the Bahamas Thousands of years ago, the Bahamas was home to a large tortoise that died out shortly after human occupation in the islands began. Thanks to intrepid explorers probing the depths of a blue hole (water-filled sinkhole) on the island of Abaco, scientists have been able to study the astonishing remains of this extinct species. The