tortoise news

Sea Turtle Butchered in the Solomon Islands It was midnight on May 3 that PT-160051 went missing. PT-160051 was a sea turtle that had been fitted with a special radio-tracking device to moniter her progress. This wasn’t to be the only casualty, however. Less than 24 hours later, a second turtle was lost to poachers. Poaching continues to be a major threat to hawksbill sea […]

Working to get Georgia’s official state reptile off states “Endangered Species List” Georgia’s official state reptile is now on the state’s endangered species list, but the tortoise is finding new hope in a local nature preserve. In an effort the save the few Gopher Tortoise left, Georgia Power Company is teaming up with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to create a habitat near Plant

Western Pond Turtles to be Released into Yosemite The Western Pond Turtle, Actinemys marmorata, is one of the many species native to the famous California Yosemite National Park; however, this species is highly threatened by deforestation as well as predators. The Yosemite National Park is working closely with the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens to conserve this species as well as protect its critical ecosystem.

Florida Is Strict On Protecting Macrochelys temminckii A man was charged in Florida for attempting to smuggle a huge alligator snapping turtle out of the Escambia river. After inspecting a suspicious boat, an officer from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found a Macrochelys temminckii in a hidden compartment. According to the FWC, the alligator snapping turtle is protected as a State Species of Special

Conservation Measures Becoming Prevalent in India On May 23, which happened to be World Turtle Day, experts at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan met in order to gather ideas and develop stratagies for conserving their native turtle species, of which there are 28. Of these 28 species, 14 of them are endangered and efforts will be made to protect the ecosystems, halt the illegal trade, and headstart

Marine biologists at Sharjah Aquarium release six Eretmochelys imbricata A group of endangered turtles was released into the ocean today after being rehabilitated by marine biologists at Sharjah Aquarium. The five adult and juvenile hawksbill turtles were reintroduced into the wild at the Natural Reserve at Al Hamriya Beach in Sharjah. Today’s event was held to coincide with World Turtle Day and is part of

Nova Scotia’s threatened wood turtles to get help from students Wood turtles are a species at risk in Nova Scotia and a group of young students from Digby to Aylesford are working together to try to bring their numbers back up as part of the Youth Leading Environmental Change Program. Katie McLean is a species at risk biologist with the Clean Annapolis River Project and

Helping Turtles While Helping Inmates The Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is an aquatic species native to the Pacific Northwest, and is now classified as endangered in Washington and declining in Oregon as well as California. However, the Oregon zoo is dedicated to the conservation of this fascinating species and has been working on a headstarting program for 25 years, which involves raising hatchlings to

Artificial Lighting Disturbs Hatchling Sea Turtles in the Water We knew that artificial lighting disturbed hatchling sea turtles on the beach but a new study shows that it also disturbs them after they enter the water. This study was not possible before because of the lack of tiny tracking devices. Today it is possible to attach such devices to hatchlings. As a consequence, it is