Rodney Lewis

Turtle shells served as symbolic musical instruments for indigenous cultures Turtles served as more than tasty treats for many Native American tribes throughout North America. In fact, turtle shells were used as rattles and other musical instruments, said FSU Associate Professor of Anthropology Tanya Peres. “Music is an important part of many cultures in ways we may not realize,” Peres said. “Musical instruments have a […]

Canadian Fishermen Help Scientists Study the Dermochelys coriacea In the fishing grounds of Atlantic Canada, June to October is “turtle season”, the warmest time of the year and the months when fishermen are most likely to spot leatherbacks coming up from the South. Leatherback turtles are the giants of the sea turtle world. Up to 2,000lbs, longer than 6ft, and with those shiny parallel ridges

Chinese volunteers help save tens of thousands of sea turtles in Sri Lanka Wu Tianqi, a Chinese university student, originally planned to come to Sri Lanka this year as a tourist just to admire the country’s natural beauty, but soon found that it would be more meaningful to be a volunteer for a local turtle conservation project. “In this way, I could learn more about

Working to increase turtle populations in Wisconsin Carrie Nelson, a wildlife biologist on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, explained that gravel pits are natural nesting locations for turtles, as the substrate is the right combination of sand and loam—sand for easy excavation and hold, and loam for proper drainage. At the same time, the gravel pits are used to repair and maintain roads and trails on

Artificial island idea to help save declining Murray River turtles Turtle researchers say putting artificial islands in the Murray River is one way to save dwindling turtle populations. The man-made island strategy is one of a handful of ideas recently put forward by a team at Western Sydney University, led by Ricky Spencer and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife. The university has been

Flaviemys purvisi to get lifeline from Australian Reptile Park It’s a late autumn day, warm and windy, the she oaks are whispering on the banks of the river, and Tim Faulkner, clad in a wetsuit, is snorkelling, looking for the Manning River turtle. It is a place the wildlife conservationist has seen them many times before, but we can’t share its location. The turtle is

1,125 Indian Star Tortoises seized from three train passengers In a major haul, 1,125 endangered Indian Star Tortoises, which were meant to be smuggled to Bangladesh, were seized from three passengers on board a train at the city railway station. Acting on intelligence inputs, the officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Vizag Regional Unit, searched the Yashvantpur- Howrah Express at around 4 p.m. on

Indonesia’s first court case involving CITES Appendix I listed Radiated Tortoise A man caught in possession of two Critically Endangered and CITES Appendix I Radiated Tortoises Astrochelys radiata has been charged in a court in Indonesia – the first case of its kind involving tortoises from Madagascar that are a favoured target of the global illegal wildlife trade. The man was charged in an East

Sea turtle nesting on Georgia’s coast off last year’s pace As the sea turtle nesting season winds down along Georgia’s coast, the number of nests appears to have dropped by about 21 percent compared to this time last year, according to preliminary data compiled by seaturtle.org. The decline in nesting patterns also appears in the number of false crawls that have been observed. False crawls