Too Shy to be Saved? The Pacific Pond Turtle’s best defense may be its undoing. Its shyness protects it from human visitors, but also keeps us from studying it and knowing where it is living. The biggest threat to this turtle is the destruction of its habitat and the recent drought in part of its range. Without being able to know exactly where this reclusive […]
World Turtle News, 04/18/2015 Read More »
Rare turtle, once thought extinct, has its numbers bolstered by reintroduction program Wildlife Conservation Society and Turtle Survival Alliance, along with the collaboration of the Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, have re-introduced 60 Batagur trivittata (Mynamar Roofed Turtle) into the wild. In addition, there are 600 more in captive breeding programs throughout Myanmar, including 300 at a facility opened in 2011 to increase
World Turtle News, 04/16/2015 Read More »
South Pacific’s Largest Hawksbill Turtle Rookery Recovering After 150 years of exploitation, the largest Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) Rookery shows significant signs of recovery. This local population, studied for 22 years to date, shows a 200% increase from when the study started. Collaborative conservation efforts must continue, but the success at Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area is very encouraging for the long-term growth of
World Turtle News, 04/09/2015 Read More »
Most of the discussion from your hosts, John and Anthony, centered on a controversial topic — “If you had to pick one species to go extinct to help save other species, which species would you pick?” This topic of discussion was inspired by this article on the Devil’s Hole Pupfish.
The Pondcast, Episode 16 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 »
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 »
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 »
Conservationist murders threaten Costa Rica’s eco-friendly reputation In May of 2013, a young conservationist was killed on a beach by poachers, as he protected sea turtle eggs. In January, all 7 men tried for the crime were acquitted, as evidence was thrown out because it violated protocol or seemingly disappeared from the courthouse. Sadly, this is a growing problem – in Costa Rica and around
World Turtle News, 03/21/2015 Read More »
