Rodney Lewis

Cambodian ministry drafts directive to save Royal Turtles The Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Administration is drafting a directive to turn more sections of the Sre Ambel river system into conservation zones for Royal Turtles following successes reported by the Wildlife Conservation Society and administration monitoring teams in existing zones. The WCS reported last week that since their release in November, the monitoring teams found that all […]

Social Behaviors In Newly-Hatched Tortoises We thought it would be very interesting to check whether social recognition is available to non-social species. Are non-social animals able to recognize familiar conspecifics at the onset of life, when they haven’t had repeated interactions with different conspecifics? Are social abilities spontaneously available also to non-social animals? The solution to address this issue (see Versace et al., 2018) was

Trachemys scripta elegans: Evasive and Invasive in Sri Lanka The increasing population of an invasive species of turtle, the red-eared terrapin in the Diyawanna system as well as other areas of the Western Province poses a threat to native species of terrapins and can result in possible ecological imbalance, says environmentalist and Attorney at Law, Jagath Gunawardana. According to Gunawardana, the spread of this species

R300 000 fundraising initiative for at-risk sea turtles in KwaZulu-Natal NESTING turtles of the Maputaland coastline in northern KwaZulu-Natal need more security – and your help to pay for it. The Ezemvelo Turtle Monitoring Programme employs Maputaland residents to monitor and protect vulnerable loggerhead and leatherback turtles visiting the shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site. Backed by WildOceans SA, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife

Mek Tuntung – guardian of terrapins In Kampung Pasir Gajah, there will be blank stares if one is asking for Dr Chen Pelf Nyok. Instead, ask for Mek Tuntung. That is how the local folk refer to her – Miss River Terrapin – in recognition of her research work on the river terrapin population. When she first arrived, Dr Chen was a one-woman show. In

‘Turtle whispering’: Scientists capture, tag sea turtles on Navarre Beach Calm water and a slight breeze made for ideal conditions to study sea turtles Wednesday morning at the Navarre Beach Marine Park. The U.S. Geological Survey, with assistance from the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center, took to the Gulf of Mexico to capture, tag and release sea turtles and educate the community about native

Shedd Aquarium to help effort to save Blanding’s turtles in DuPage The Shedd Aquarium is joining the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s long-running effort to save an endangered species of turtles. Forest preserve officials this week said the Chicago-based aquarium will become the latest partner in the district’s Blanding’s turtle recovery program, which raises hatchlings in captivity before releasing them into the wild. The

A World Without Turtles? New Study Considers Global Impact of Turtle Decline The following contains extracts from the press release “A World Without Turtles” by the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute The paper — “Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does It Matter?” — is the cover story of the upcoming issue of the monthly scientific journal Bioscience. The authors synthesize more than 90

Rescuers warn of fishing line dangers to turtles Patrollers on ATVs spent the summer searching the entire beach for nesting sea turtles. However, these aren’t the only turtles they keep an eye out for. Every so often, they also discover sea turtles in desperate need of help, like the ones that are entangled in fishing line and are unable to free themselves from it. At