tortoise news

1485 Volunteers Clean Up a Beach For Leatherback Sea Turtle Nesting Season Trinidadian and Tobagonian organization Nature Seekers is having its annual beach clean-up and is also celebrating its 25 anniversary. Every year, thousand of volunteers meet at Matura Beaches (which are important nesting sites) in order to remove bulk of debris and drift wood, making the path clear for turtles to lay their eggs […]

Leatherback Sea Turtle lands in South Carolina Aquarium for treatment A sick Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) was admitted to South Carolina Aquarium this past weekend. This has turned out to be quite a challenge, both to get the turtle, named “Yawkey”, to the aquarium and provide space for treatment. One can only imagine, seeing as Yawkey weighs almost 500 pounds and is more than

22 baby Malaclemys terrapin saved from smugglers The SoundWaters nature education center in Stamford got an unexpected gift: 22 baby Malaclemys terrapin who were saved from smugglers in Alaska. More than 200 juvenile diamondback terrapins were found by US customs in Anchorage, Alaska. They were about to be shipped to China. Unfortunately, 1 has already died and the remaining 21 might not survive either. SoundWaters

Wow! A rare 500lb leather back turtle is rescued. A 226kg Leatherback sea turtle is rescued from Yawley-South Island Reserve beach by five people after being reported as sick. It is now at the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital where it is recovering. This a rare event and possibly only the fifth record in the United States of America. Turtle News From Around the

17 Kemp’s Ridley Turtles head home. Turtlepalooza sees the Georgia Sea Turtle Centre release 17 cold stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. If you have been following the news over the winter you will know it was a record year for cold stuns with over 1300 being taken in by rescues. It’s always heart warming to see them released back into the wild despite the adverse

Desert Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, receives 7,400 acres of protected land. Similarly to the Bog Turtle preserve that was recently established in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a 7,400 acre plot of land has been established as the Fenner Valley Desert Tortoise Conservation Bank. The undeveloped properties enrolled in the Bank are located in area designated by the USFWS as critical habitat for Gopherus agassizii. This is an

4000 Turtles Saved From Smuggling On Thursday, more than 4000 freshwater turtles were seized by custom officials in Pakistan.The smuggling attempt is believed to be the biggest consignment in the history of Pakistan. Although this species is protected by the law, it is commonly being smuggled. Last year thanks to the Chinese authorities, the Gilgit-Baltistan and the Sindh wildlife departments, more than 200 smuggled turtles

Migration: The key to survive global warming A fossil of an extinct tropical turtle species, Gomphochelys nanus, was found in Wyoming and gives the first evidence that turtles used to migrate north when the climate warmed 50,000 years ago. Today’s turtles could do the same if global temperatures rise. However, this might be a huge problem since turtle and tortoise habitats keep shrinking because of