Plastic is not food This juvenile sea turtle starved to death after filling its self up with indigestible plastic. This sad story reminds us all about the effect we are having on the planet. The following wikipedia page describes the Great Pacific garbage patch, these are huge concentrations of plastic particles suspended within the water column, creating a soup of indigestible particles. Unfortunately marine animals […]
World Turtle News, 04/05/2015 Read More »
Multiple paternity proven We’ve probably all wondered if turtles can have multiple paternity clutches like cats do, and now our questions have been answered. Work coming from the University of Western Australia by researcher Jamie Tedeschi shows that in at least one species, Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle), multiple paternity is common. However, during the research, she also found no males that mated with multiple
World Turtle News, 04/03/2015 Read More »
The curious case of the rubber tortoise: Attack of MBD We’ve all heard about metabolic bone disease (MBD), but it really isn’t the most common health problem experienced in the hobby. Arguably, issues caused by parasites are much more common. However, that doesn’t change the fact that MBD really isn’t hard to prevent. One vet from the United Kingdom discusses the issues related to MBD
World Turtle News, 04/02/2015 Read More »
First Underwater GPS Monitoring of Sea Turtles 30 baby Natator depressus will be equipped with GPS devices in order to learn more about this species. Indeed, this species is the least known in terms of behaviour and habitat of all the sea turtles species. 30 baby turtles got collected just after birth and have been raised by hand for 2 months. They need to be
World Turtle News, 04/01/2015 Read More »
The disaster that keeps on giving The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is again in the headlines in a report by the National Wildlife Federation released Monday, March 30th. BP released their five year findings on March 17th. With BP’s report being being marked as premature in its recovery findings and BP saying the National Wildlife Federation report is politically motivated, somewhere between the two
World Turtle News, 03/31/2015 Read More »
From Prison Island to Tortoise Haven The island of Changuu off the Zanzibar coast in Tanzania has performed may roles in its past. From a slave hold in the 19th century, a quarantine station for yellow fever suffers and now a tourist stop. The island is also home to several Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea), the oldest of which is approximately 191 years old. The
World Turtle News, 03/29/2015 Read More »
Alligator Snapping Turtles slow to make a comeback in Georgia; considered for ESA Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) were surveyed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to see if their numbers had rebounded since they became a protected species in 1992. However, the numbers show they only found a few more of them than they did during their last survey 25 years ago. We’re
World Turtle News, 03/28/2015 Read More »
Sea Turtle Receives a 3-D orthopaedic chin made of titanium Nine months ago, a Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle) was hit by the propeller of a boat, rupturing the turtle’s right side of the chin in the Turkish city of Bodrum (map of Turkey). The animal, named “AKUT 3,” has been suffering from indigestion and has been fed only small fish by hand for nine
World Turtle News, 03/27/2015 Read More »
Eco-passages for turtles to cross roads safely aren’t meeting expectations Scientists recently released the results of a survey on the effectiveness of eco-passages as safe crossings for turtles, tortoises, and other reptiles. Sadly, they haven’t been as effective as hoped. The biggest concern is that turtles don’t use them without guidance forcing them to do so. We’re not surprised by this, as their natural inclination
World Turtle News, 03/26/2015 Read More »
