Oh, the Places You’ll Go…with Turtles!

By Rachael Harff, Chelonian Keeper II, Turtle Survival Center

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” is a question that we’ve all been asked in life, especially throughout our academic track. Five years ago I’d tell you I wanted to work with animals, which has always been true for me, but otherwise, I really didn’t know the direction my life was headed. Today, I’d tell you I feel so lucky that my career has led me to Turtle Survival Alliance and to an inspiring community of passionate people who love and protect turtles. Turtles and tortoises, in my experience, are some of the most fascinating creatures that can lead you on the most incredible journeys. Most recently, turtles took me to Belize—specifically, to the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE). BFREE resides on 1,153 acres of protected land located in the foothills of the Mayan Mountains. If you love waking up to jungle sounds every morning at sunrise, long hikes through undeveloped wild lands, eating amazing home-cooked food (thanks to their talented chef Eddie), and being surrounded by all kinds of critters (including lots of turtles), then BFREE is a must on your turtle bucket list. Not to mention the amazing staff at BFREE that you’ll meet, learn from, and likely befriend.

BFREE and Turtle Survival Alliance’s partnership began in 2010 when both organizations saw a need for the conservation of the critically endangered Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii), known locally as the hicatee. Their combined effort to prevent the decline of the species led to the inception of the Hicatee Conservation & Research Center (HCRC), located on the grounds of the BFREE field station. Fast forward through fourteen years of hard work and dedication, and the HCRC has released over one thousand hicatee turtles into the wild, all thanks to their very successful breeding and head start program, as well as the dedicated staff, scientists, and volunteers that have made this possible over the years. 

The reason for myself and eleven other turtle enthusiasts traveling to BFREE this July was to conduct a population survey of eight other species of freshwater turtle found on BFREE’s reserve. In addition to the Turtle Survival Alliance/BFREE partnership to save the hicatee, they have also launched a program inviting Volunteer Scientists to participate in field programs through the North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group (NAFTRG). The objective of the study is to capture, mark, and recapture the turtles we find on the property to study population size over time and to ensure healthy populations of turtles remain in the wild there. We caught the turtles both by hand and by setting various baited traps. Then, we marked them with shell notches and gave them Passive Integrated Transponders, or PIT tags, for future identification. We took measurements including carapace and plastron length, width, etc., and released them back into the wild once the data was collected. July 2024 concluded the fourth year of data collection and research in the 10-year study. This year, we found several handfuls of adorable hatchling turtles, and we excitingly recorded the one-thousandth turtle captured on the BFREE property. 

The eight species that we captured while conducting the survey included: Tabasco Mud Turtles (Kinosternon acutum), Scorpion Mud Turtles (Kinosternon scorpioides), White-lipped Mud Turtles (Kinosternon leucostomum), Narrow-bridged Musk Turtles (Claudius angustatus), Mexican Giant Musk Turtles (Staurotypus triporcatus), Meso-American Sliders (Trachemys venusta), Furrowed Wood Turtles (Rhinoclemmys areolata) and one very elusive Central American Snapping Turtle (Chelydra rossignonii). 

We spent our days and nights hiking throughout the property looking for turtles. This included hiking up and down the 6-mile entrance road that segues from jungle to savanna, wading in shallow creeks and getting caught in rainstorms, night snorkeling in the fast-moving Bladen River, and being led deep into jungle wetlands by Thomas Pop; the turtle whisperer, jungle man, and coolest person I’ve ever met. Two things held true every day we spent at BFREE; one, we were absolutely going to find turtles, and two, we were absolutely going to get wet. I think all of us quickly learned to embrace the torrential rain, puddles, and river crossings we encountered daily. We certainly didn’t let any of our unfortunate shoe or wardrobe choices hold us back from experiencing all that Belize’s biodiversity has to offer. 

The success of the BFREE program lies not only in the surveys but also in their training and development of young professionals in the conservation field. I loved learning about the BFREE fellowship program and connecting with the fellows on my trip. The fellowship program offers a two-year immersive workforce training program to recent Belizean junior college and college graduates. Heather Barrett, the Deputy Director of BFREE, and Jacob Marlin, the Executive Director of BFREE, created this program to empower future conservation leaders and allow young professionals to get their foot in the door in wildlife conservation and agroforestry. It is an example of a successful program that is essential to the future of conservation through community involvement and cultivating aspiring leaders. 

During my visit, I met Barney Hall and Roxanna Chen, two of the most recent graduates of the fellowship program. Roxanna was the first female graduate of the program and has since become a permanent staff member at BFREE. Barney will begin his next journey in conservation by pursuing a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science at the University of Augsburg in Minnesota. 

I was fascinated with Barney’s chelonian journey and how the fellowship program drastically altered the direction of his life. Growing up on a river, Barney told me about how he had always enjoyed fishing and being in nature but didn’t know of any career paths related to this field. Fate intervened when Jacob Marlin stumbled upon Barney working at a hardware shop. They struck up a conversation about BFREE and wildlife conservation. After seeing a spark of Barney’s passion for wildlife in their conversation, Jacob encouraged Barney to apply for the science and education fellowship program. Thus, Barney’s official journey with turtles began. He and several of the other fellows that I had the pleasure of meeting during my trip, whether old and new to the program, have gone on or will go on to do amazing things for conservation–because of their individual drive–and because of the support and experiences they received from the fellowship program offered at BFREE. 

So, where do YOU see yourself in five years? Perhaps you’ll be visiting a beautiful place with passionate people to teach you all about their efforts for turtle conservation. Or maybe you’ll be conducting turtle research and sharing your findings at the next Turtle Survival Alliance symposium. If turtles are involved, it’s probably likely you’re going to be in some exciting scenarios or habitats somewhere around the world. I hope I get to continue on this journey in turtle conservation and continue to connect with incredible people. I hope organizations like Turtle Survival Alliance and BFREE continue to inspire, nurture, and create opportunities for future generations to get involved and care about conservation. And of course, I look forward to following the turtles …off to great places! …off and away!

-Rachael

Header image: Rachael Harff on a river in a protected field site in Belize. Photo courtesy of Rachael Harff.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Fisheries Administration (FiA) in July marked another significant achievement in their efforts to restore the Cambodian population of Southern River Terrapins (colloquially known as Royal Turtles) with the inaugural opening of newly constructed rearing and breeding ponds at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center (KKRCC). To further mark the opening of these facilities, our partners in Cambodia released another group of 20 subadult Southern River Terrapins, which were raised at the KKRCC, into the Sre Ambel River. The KKRCC has successfully produced 185 hatchling terrapins since 2021. This release marks the tenth for the species, totaling 206 returned to the wild. The collaborative efforts of WCS, FiA, and partners, including Turtle Survival Alliance, have been instrumental in protecting the Southern River Terrapin, once believed extinct in Cambodia.

Read the full press release here.

All photos by Phun Thorn © WCS Cambodia.

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Turtle Survival Alliance supports the work of María Eugenia Echave and Erika Kubisch for the study and conservation of the Chaco Tortoise (Chelonoidis chilensis) in Argentina.

By María Eugenia Echave and Erika Kubisch

A few years ago, we started working around an open water canal near San Antonio Oeste, in Northern Patagonia, Argentina, where we observed all kinds of animals, including the Chaco Tortoise, falling in. Throughout the summer, we had the opportunity to rescue many of them from that canal. Upon releasing some of them, we tracked them with radio transmitters for a few days to ensure they remained in good health and to see if they stayed in the vicinity or decided to move far away. 

On November 10, 2022, we rescued a beautiful female that we assigned as T212. Realizing she had eggs, we decided to track her daily using a radio transmitter. On January 20, 2023, we had the incredible opportunity to witness her laying eggs. The sensation was incredible; we didn’t even realize what was happening at first and had to quietly retreat when we understood what was going on. It was 11:30 AM, and after observing her for almost an hour under the blazing sun, we saw her, completely exhausted, closing the nest she had painstakingly dug with her hind legs. We never saw how many eggs she laid, but once she moved a few meters away to rest in the shade, we approached and realized it was impossible to discern exactly where the nest was. She was very careful not to leave any trace of the miracle she had just created.

Once she left, we decided those eggs needed to be protected, as the area is home to many wild boar that leave nothing in their wake. It seemed unfair that after all her effort, and ours to keep her healthy and safe, those hatchlings wouldn’t get the chance to be born. So, we gathered all the materials we could find to create a barrier around the nest and protect those eggs, at least to give them the opportunity to hatch.

We knew we had to wait many months. Working in the southernmost part of Argentina, we have the southernmost tortoise population in the world. This means that they need a long time to hatch because, despite the very high temperatures in summer, winter temperatures are extremely low. As a result, the embryos enter a period of dormancy. We already had records of nests that took between 12 and 16 months to hatch, so we knew the wait would be long.

The following year, we returned to work in the area, and every day we checked on the nest, hoping to notice a small change that would indicate the hatchlings were about to emerge. However, the entire summer passed and nothing happened.

After 14 months of waiting, and upon learning that a motor grader was scheduled to pass through the area to repair the road where the nest was located, we decided to visit the nest one last time to verify if the eggs were fertile and in good condition to hatch. If they were, we planned to take them and allow them to hatch in captivity, releasing them in the spring to give them a better chance of survival.

However, when we arrived, there were still no signs of hatching. We began to dig carefully, and suddenly, we were startled to see something moving! To our incredible surprise, we discovered a fully hatched baby tortoise still completely buried, living within the air chamber its mother had created. Also in the nest, beneath the small hatchling, there was another egg that probably broke during laying.

The wait was definitely worth it. We never expected to find a hatchling already born and waiting to emerge. As the cold autumn weather was starting, we decided to protect it and allow it to brumate safely. When the warm days of October arrive, during our spring, we will release it back into the wild where it belongs. It’s incredible to realize that our efforts led to the birth of this beautiful creature. Even though it’s just one hatchling today, we know that our dedication will benefit many more in the future. This gives us the energy and motivation to continue our work.

To read more about the work we support in Argentina, read the full feature in Turtle Survival 2023.

Acknowledgments: we would like to thank Turtle Survival Alliance, Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Turtle Conservation Fund, our volunteers Luis, Belén, Juan, Juana, Pau A., Yeye, Aye, Agus, Ro, Santi, Cami, Pau S., Fer, Oli, Kenya, Gaby, Catalina, Sebastián, Maxi, Peco, Martín, Milton.

Header image: Biologists María and Erika first encounter the Chaco Tortoise (Chelonoidis chilensis) hatchling, just taken from its nest. All photos by Maria Eugenia Echave. 

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By Eduardo Reyes Grajales, PhD student, Department of Biodiversity Conservation, Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

The state of Chiapas is one of the most culturally and biologically rich in Mexico; however, historically, this state presents big challenges for the conservation of its flora and fauna, and turtles are no exception. In March 2023, I began a partnership with Turtle Survival Alliance, implementing various initiatives spanning from southern to northern Chiapas. This state is home to 16 continental turtles of which I have recorded 14. 

My work in Chiapas this spring has allowed me to engage the community in efforts to conserve the habitat of a particular mud turtle, begin our research on one of the most endangered turtles in the world, participate in a successful webinar on the conservation of terrestrial and freshwater turtles in Mexico, and commence a study on the reproductive biology of one of the least studied turtles in Central America.

In April, I initiated contact with the honorable council of Villa Hidalgo, a village in central Chiapas, regarding the protection of a lagoon in the community. Why there? For the past five years, I have been monitoring a turtle population in that vicinity, recording over 350 individuals of the Central Chiapas Mud Turtle (Kinosternon abaxillare), a species that is only distributed in the central portion of Chiapas and a small area in western Guatemala. The central region of Chiapas is characterized by its highly productive agriculture and livestock operations. This has led to the disappearance of much of its deciduous forest, endangering the animals that inhabit the area. It is now rare to find natural localities with so many individual turtles in one place. Meetings were held to discuss designating the area around this lagoon as a community-protection zone by local agreement. The proposal was unanimously approved on April 28. To celebrate the event, a cleaning of the lagoon and a reforestation effort along its margins was organized.

At the beginning of May, we conducted our first field trip to study populations of the imperiled Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii) over a ten-day period in the northern region of Chiapas. The Central American River Turtle is a fully aquatic, herbivorous species in all its size and sex categories. Unfortunately, the species is overexploited for its meat for local consumption, making it one of the world’s most critically endangered turtles. Compounding this issue, northern Chiapas faces high rates of land use change, contamination of its water bodies primarily due to livestock and agriculture, and a significant presence of non-native fish. 

So, why do we study the Central American River Turtle under these conditions? First, some populations have survived under intense environmental and human pressures. Therefore, understanding the ecological patterns that individuals of the species develop to survive is key to proposing effective conservation strategies. To address this, I study the characteristics of the turtle population (e.g. number of individuals, sex ratio, and size) and the food webs to which the Central American River Turtle is linked. I employ a mixed methodology that incorporates both scientific and anecdotal knowledge from local fishermen. This combination of information has proven successful in identifying capture sites and applying non-invasive methodologies to capture the species in the large lagoons and rivers of southeastern Mexico.

Fieldwork was challenging due to the difficulties of transporting large traps and field equipment, as well as covering extensive routes of an aquatic system in temperatures reaching up to 109°F (43°C). These challenges were compounded by insecurities within the social context of southeastern Mexico, posing limitations on certain activities. Despite these obstacles, we succeeded in locating turtles! Finding more than a dozen individuals of this critically endangered species using this initial approach isn’t bad, right? 

Among the 16 Central American River Turtles we captured were several large individuals exceeding 16 in (40 cm) in shell length and 51 lbs (23 kg) in weight. However, we noticed that predation pressures are very high, and we cataloged multiple individuals with significant signs of predation attempts. Despite these attempts, they continued to grow, demonstrating their resilience as survivors.

This project goes beyond studying the Central American River Turtle in this region; our aim is to replicate this study in various locations within protected natural areas. Our goal is to broaden our understanding of wild populations, identify conservation needs, and forge partnerships to safeguard these turtles and their environment. 

On this trip, we not only sought out the Central American River Turtle, but also had the opportunity to record individuals of the Meso-American Slider Turtle (Trachemys venusta), Central American Snapping Turtle (Chelydra rossignonii), Northern Giant Musk Turtle (Staurotypus triporcatus), White-lipped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon leucostomum), Furrowed Wood Turtle (Rhinoclemmys areolata), and some curious Morelet’s Crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii)! Additionally, we had the opportunity to interact with local communities to publicize our work, share experiences, and emphasize the importance of the conservation of tropical ecosystems. 

To enhance our public engagement efforts and commemorate World Turtle Day^© (May 23), the Colegio de la Frontera Sur organized a webinar titled “Challenges for the Conservation of Turtles in Mexico.” This event featured the participation of national experts from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Universidad de Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT), the Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), and the Secretaría del Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural del Estado de Chiapas (SEMAHN). Here we discussed the current challenges in turtle conservation in Mexico, focusing on community participation and collaboration between educational and government institutions. You can view the different participations by following the link here. 

Every moment in this season served as a poignant reminder of the fragility of nature and our responsibility as human beings to protect it. Without a doubt, this year has been a great adventure filled with work to deepen our understanding of the turtles of Chiapas. We look forward to continuing this great work day by day, safeguarding their habitats, and creating synergies with local communities to promote turtle conservation in this region of Mexico.

Acknowledgments: I appreciate the valuable support of the Miguel Álvarez del Toro Zoo to carry out fieldwork, especially Ernesto E. Perera Trejo (Curator of the Crocodile Area), Ángel de la Cruz Pérez (Assistant of the Crocodile Area), and Carlos A. Guichard Romero (Operational Director). Additionally, to the honorable council of Villa Hidalgo, the Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Juan Baldovinos, Pablo Baldovinos (owner of EcoHostal Costa Verde), and Victor H. Reynoso (research professor at UNAM).

Header image: An adult female Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii) collected with signs of attempted predation. All photos courtesy of Eduardo Reyes Grajales.

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In another step forward for a critically endangered species, Turtle Survival Alliance released 1,000 Radiated Tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) on World Turtle Day®, May 23, 2024, into a community-protected forest in southwest Madagascar. These tortoises were seized from illegal trafficking and put under Turtle Survival Alliance management for rehabilitation, long-term care, and eventual release.

The first successful reintroduction of tortoises began in 2021, with thousands of tortoises released in batches since then. The tortoises will be monitored post-release to record movements, quantify survivorship, and qualify release efficacy. We aim to rewild more than 20,000 confiscated tortoises under our care in Madagascar over the next five years. To learn more about our plan, read our case for support.

In preparation for returning the tortoises to the wild, a veterinary team from Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute and Mississippi Aquarium working with husbandry staff from Zoo Knoxville, Wildlife Conservation Society, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Turtle Survival Alliance, and students from the veterinary school of the University of Antananarivo, performed health evaluations for tortoises large enough to be considered for release. The 1,000 cleared for release were placed in an isolation enclosure for six months prior to their transfer to the reintroduction site.

Concurrently, we, in close collaboration with Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) and other government institutions, and the local community, invested considerable effort to prepare the site for tortoise release. The MEDD declared the site a community-managed area. TSA and the local community conducted surveys to establish boundaries and constructed expansive pre-release enclosures. TSA and its partners (gendarmes, MEDD) built capacity among community members to manage the site for tortoises and as a community forest.

The release is a day of celebration for the community, marking a collaboration between local communities, our organization, and the government to achieve a significant step towards the conservation of this endemic species in need.

Acknowledgments*: 

Thank you to Aktionsgemeinschaft Artenschutz (AGA) e.V., Association of Zoos & Aquariums: Saving Animals From Extinction (AZA SAFE), Chuck and Ernestina Kreutzkamp Foundation, Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Dennler Family Fund, Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Gregory Family Charitable Fund, Jill Jollay, Milwaukee County Zoo, Mississippi Aquarium, Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, St. Louis Zoo, Toronto Zoo, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Zoo Atlanta, Zoo Knoxville, Zoofari Parks, LLC, and Will Ahrens, Brett Bartek, William and Kathleen Holmstrom, Lance Paden, Jamie Palmer, Bonnie L Raphael, Roy Young, and our many Alliance staff in Madagascar who work tirelessly to ensure that these tortoises have a future in the wild.

*Financial or in-kind support of $5,000 or more, from October 2022 to December 2023.

Header image: Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar staff begin to unload the Radiated Tortoises prepped for release into tubs of water. After a good soak, they will be transferred into soft-release pens to begin the next step in their return to the wild. All photos courtesy of Turtle Survival Alliance Madagasikara, Communications Department.

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By AJ Fetterman, Chelonian Keeper II, Turtle Survival Center

When it comes to turtle and tortoise conservation, there is no better place to work than Turtle Survival Alliance’s Turtle Survival Center (TSC, the Center). At the Center, we house over 700 individuals of some of those most endangered species of turtle and tortoise in the world. A standout for me is the Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota)—my favorite species. We have five of them and have produced many offspring in the past, and we have an enormous female that is definitely the “star” of the Center.

The main mission of the Center is to breed as many genetically diverse turtles as possible to ensure that these species remain on our planet for generations to come. We would always prefer to keep the animals in the wild living a normal turtle life, but with some of the most endangered species, sometimes there is no wild left remaining. Some of the species we work with, like the Rote Island Snake-necked Turtle (Chelodina mccordi), can no longer be found in the wild at all. We produce many individuals of this species every year and without facilities like ours carrying out captive breeding, the future for this species would be in serious peril.

That brings us to me, my name is AJ and I am a Chelonian Keeper at the Turtle Survival Center. I am a part of a team that’s responsible for maintaining this collection of turtles and tortoises and providing an enriching life for them that replicates to the best of our ability their wild environment. This job comes with some really cool responsibilities and duties, all of which I’m excited to share with you in this series.

Egg-citing Springtime Clutches

My favorite part of the job is the collection and incubation of eggs and getting to care for all of the hatchlings we produce every year. We are in full-blown egg collection season, as you can see with this nest of Bourret’s Box Turtle (Cuora bourreti) eggs that I found just this week (below). This nest of eggs was the first time we have seen four eggs in a single clutch for this species, which made it a pretty exciting find. So far three of the eggs are showing signs of development, giving us hope for potential hatchings.

We also recently found some Forsten’s Tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii) eggs (below). This species will lay only one or two eggs per clutch and are larger than those of the Bourret’s Box Turtle. These tortoises can take a notoriously long time to develop inside their eggs, but so far they are showing good signs of development.  

Another spring tradition is our roundups for dozens of turtles inhabiting the eight large ponds at the Center. Every spring and fall we jump into the ponds and collect all of the turtles by hand to do an overall health assessment and record their weights. Most of the turtles in these ponds are juvenile Red-Necked Pond Turtles (Mauremys nigricans) and Vietnamese Pond Turtles (Mauremys annamensis). It’s always a long and exhausting process, but a necessary task to ensure everyone is happy and healthy. 

Every season brings new tasks and duties and I am excited to bring everyone along for the ride. Every Tails from the Turtle Survival Center blog will have a different topic; some of them are fun and exciting, and others may be difficult, all of which are necessary parts of the fight to keep these species existing on our planet. I also look forward to chatting with two of the other Chelonian Keepers, Rachael, and Nita, and introducing you to some of the faces and motivations of those working to keep the Center up to our high standards of care. 

Stay tuned for another blog coming soon!

-AJ

Header image: AJ holds a young Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) that had found its way into the ponds at the Turtle Survival Center, photo by Chelsea Rinn.

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By Andrew Walde, Director of Conservation and Science

As I look out the airplane window, I reflect; after a 20-year absence, I’m about to land in Mexico for the third time this year. This mission is a little different—no thorn scrub, no tropical forests, just the concrete jungle that is Puerto Vallarta. Here, luxury resorts, hotels, and rentals now span the entirety of the coastline of the Bay of Banderas. Tourism is flourishing, with millions descending on this port city each year to enjoy its beaches, nightlife, culture, and cuisine. Long before the city’s rise to prominence as a vacation destination, though, a diminutive turtle called—and still calls—Puerto Vallarta and the Ameca Valley home.

In a shock to the turtle world, in 2018, a new species of turtle featuring a bright yellow patch on its nose was described from a ditch—literally—inside Puerto Vallarta. And so began the quest for more information on the aptly named Vallarta Mud Turtle (Kinosternon vogti). 

Regarded as the smallest freshwater turtle in the world, the Vallarta Mud Turtle rocketed into the top tier of most endangered turtles in the world. Contrary to numerous counterparts on this unfortunate list of species, which often still boast a relative abundance of habitat but have fallen victim to relentless exploitation for the food, pet, and traditional medicine trades, the Vallarta Mud Turtle faces a unique challenge—the majority of its habitat sits directly beneath the homes and businesses of a burgeoning metropolis. In fact, our current knowledge is that this tiny, beautiful, yet ill-fated turtle now exists in just five small wetlands where a valley of floodplain wetlands once laid.

I was met at the airport by Taggert Butterfield, co-founder of Estudiantes Conservando la Naturaleza, or Students Conserving Nature (SCN). Taggert and Students Conserving Nature partner with the Turtle Survival Alliance to learn as much as we can about this species to help direct conservation efforts. It is still early, so Taggert swoops me off to the beach for a late lunch, where he tells me all about his findings. 

On our way to his place to pick up traps and bait, we swing by a pond known to have Vallarta Mud Turtles. As we bump down the dirt roads approaching the pond I’m struck by the neighborhood, construction debris, and garbage. How can anything survive here, let alone one of the rarest turtles in the world? Mere seconds after this thought, I yell out, “STOP!” There on the side of the road is a smooth turtle-esque “rock”—a Vallarta Mud Turtle. Taggert can’t believe it as it’s rather early in the evening for a turtle to be out and on the move, but he explains that there is a dry drainage that connects this pond to another; the turtle, an adult female, has clearly traversed the dry bed. We quickly process her, giving her a unique shell-notch ID, and, upon examining her, learn she is gravid with eggs. How exciting is that!!??

We set her back down to continue on her way, wishing her and her precious load great success. As we continue on, the site ahead is less exciting; dozens of dump trucks have been filling in the pond with crumbled concrete waste. But the little four-inch egg-laiden female we just found gives us hope. Taggert brings additional optimism as he discusses his current talks with the city to restore and transform this wetland into a small protected park, benefitting both the residents of Puerto Vallarta and its endangered mud turtle.

We return to the wetland just before dark to set traps, and, in what can only be seen as a miracle, there on the same stretch of road is another Vallarta Mud Turtle. This time it is a much smaller turtle, a male with his bright yellow nose clearly visible from the truck. We can’t help but wonder if he was trailing the female from two hours earlier. We set our traps, bidding them good luck, with a promise to return in the morning. If you’ve never trapped turtles for science, let me tell you, the anticipation fills your being. When you approach a trap, your mind is going full tilt. “Will there be a turtle? How many? What species?” A colleague years ago compared it to opening a present on Christmas morning—the unbridled curiosity and excitement is the same. 

Over the next three days we visit several wetlands that hold potential for Vallarta Mud Turtles, as well as the five known habitats occupied by this precious little turtle. All of them are heavily degraded and impacted by the surrounding developments. Worse yet, some of the “best habitat” is slated for sale or development. Sadly, this is prime real estate for the ever-expanding Puerto Vallarta. While moving around the extremely small known range of this species, we discuss options. They are going to need to be drastic—with time being of the utmost essence.

Working with the city of Puerto Vallarta, removing turtles slated to be buried by development, establishing assurance colonies, investigating translocation, and creating habitat are all at the top of the list.

Conserving the world’s tiniest turtle will not be a tiny effort. 

All photos courtesy of Andrew Walde and Taggert Butterfield. 

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By Brett Bartek

In January of this year, 1,000 Radiated Tortoises were moved from Turtle Survival Alliance’s two conservation centers in southern Madagascar to a pre-release pen located deep in a community-protected forest in the Androy region. This forest is the second site that was chosen by the Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar team as an appropriate place to release tortoises that were rescued from poachers. Turtle Survival Alliance staff has been working with this community for over a year to build a solid relationship in order to ensure that the tortoises, and their forest, will remain protected for the long term.

This July, I traveled back to the forest to assist Turtle Survival Alliance staff in releasing these 1,000 tortoises from the pre-release pen. This being only our second time releasing these rescued tortoises, we wanted to continue our monitoring efforts to ensure our methods were successful. Ideally, the released tortoises would settle into a natural home range and movement pattern within the first couple months of release and not leave the protected forest.

Our first two days of work included performing health evaluations on 300 random tortoises in the pen to determine how they fared over the last seven months. We changed things up since the last time and increased the size of the pre-release pen to eight hectares (almost 20 acres) over the six hectares (almost 15 acres) at the previous release site. The change was noticeable after seven months, with tortoises being harder to find in the larger pen and feeling much heavier at the end of the penning period. Just like at our last site, we attached GPS loggers and radio transmitters to 15 of the translocated tortoises and five resident tortoises for monitoring and comparison.

The spiny forest is much denser at this site. I could barely take a step without being grabbed, poked, or stabbed by the wide variety of vegetation that has evolved some serious self defense mechanisms. During these first two days of work I was reminded about how important these forests are to the communities surrounding them. I lost track of our community guides while we were working on a small group of tortoises. After a few minutes, I looked up and saw them walking back to us from the dense forest with something in their hands. They had collected a couple of large wood boring beetles that were going to be on the lunch menu a little later in the day. They were similar in size and shape to the ones I had seen in the cottonwood trees while working in Oklahoma, but were much more brightly patterned and colored with large spines covering various parts of the insects body. I was offered a taste, but politely declined, as the beans and rice were a little more familiar to me.

July is a winter month in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures during this time of the year dip into the low 50s (Fahrenheit) at night and might hover in the high 80s (Fahrenheit) during the day, very similar to the southern Florida winters I’m used to. This is also the dry season in this part of the world. Vegetation that the tortoises might forage upon is few and far between, and as such, this is also the inactive season for the tortoises, with some only moving a few meters per day. The weather and the inactive tortoises makes work in the pen move pretty smoothly, if you don’t count the hostile vegetation. After finally opening the pen, we tracked the tortoises using radio telemetry for two days and confirmed that they were not moving very much, with only one of the 15 tortoises leaving the pen. 

After completing our mission at our second site, we headed back to the Tortoise Conservation Centre (TCC) to gear up for the next and final part of our mission. In the evening I was able to take a walk around the TCC and observe the tortoises that are being housed there. Crested Drongos, Coucals, and Souimanga Sunbirds were moving throughout the native spiny forest. A troop of Ring-tailed Lemurs made their way through the tortoise pens, stealing some of the sweet potato leaves that the tortoises were not interested in eating on this cold afternoon. This walk is always a sobering one as the scope of the problem we are combating becomes immediately evident by the 10,000 tortoises waiting to be released back into the wild where they were born.

The next morning, a little over 300 Radiated Tortoises were loaded up into trucks, and the team drove them to our first release site, where two new four-hectare (almost 10-acre) pens were constructed in the forest waiting for them. When we arrived at the site we met with the community leaders to discuss the plan and what everyone’s role would be. We all drove down to the pen, and one by one, we started pulling groups of tortoises out of the trucks and placing them in large bowls of water to allow them to drink for a few minutes before finally releasing them into the pen. This routine happened two more times over the next two days, with us placing 500 tortoises in each pen—one thousand more tortoises ready for release.

I finally started my week-long trip back home, where I had to get used to not speaking in broken French or Malagasy, could take a hot shower just any time I wanted, ate things other than rice, and went back to working in an air-conditioned office. I can’t wait to go back to Madagascar.

All photos courtesy of Brett Bartek.

Image 1: Turtle Survival Alliance team member adheres tracking device to Radiated Tortoise in Madagascar.

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Look no further because a heaping stack of Pancakes… (Tortoises)… is coming your way!

By Clinton S. Doak

Apologies, I think I confused this for my weekly baking blog and not my account of assisting with Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) surveys in Kenya.

But now that I have your attention, let’s get back on track and allow me to bend your ear a bit about the amazing work that the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy–in partnership with the National Museums of Kenya, The Kenyan Wildlife Service, and Turtle Survival Alliance–is doing for Pancake Tortoises. With a project that is still in its infancy, having only started in 2019, the amount of work that has been done is astounding. The passion and drive that these researchers have is what makes so many turtle biologists strive to be a part of programs like this. I was sent on behalf of our President and CEO, Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux, who has done extensive work in Kenya, to bring much needed program supplies and to assist in the mark-recapture surveys being conducted. That’s one of the best parts about working for an organization like Turtle Survival Alliance, yearly travel to programs across the globe.

I’ve done and continue to do my fair share of mark-recaptures, but this program was mind-blowing. Not only because of the awesome team, but also because of the growth that the program undertook in just five days! Every day started with meeting community conservancy leaders, totaling five different community conservancies. Visiting two or three sites at each conservancy yielded tortoises of all age classes, showing that recruitment is happening in all five of these conservancies. Which is huge by the way! The survey was remarkable and led to over 100 captures, including some recaptures—that’s more flapjacks than one person can handle! 

The surveys were a huge success, showing us that Kenya is still a viable home for Pancake Tortoises. But the work isn’t done, Pancakes still need our help. It’s estimated that around 90% of Pancake Tortoise populations exist outside of these protected areas. With that being said, the amount of energy, passion, and interest that the community conservancy (including the leaders and people that reside in those communities) showed over those five days is an amazing indicator that they can help educate and illuminate the way to preserving this amazing species. Combining that passion with continued surveys across Kenya, and hopefully federal involvement, there is still hope for Pancake Tortoises.

Of course I have to sign off with the infamous phrase, which is actually a legitimate saying uttered in Swahili across Kenya, hakuna matata y’all! Alright, maybe not the y’all part (but I am writing this from my desk in South Carolina).

And even though this phrase means not to worry, you may still worry, because turtles and tortoises across the globe need our help.

Hakuna matata y’all,

Clinton S. Doak

All photos courtesy of Clinton Doak.

Image 1: Turtle Survival Alliance team members document a Pancake Tortoise in the Lewa Conservancy, Kenya.

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by Jordan Gray

Bog Turtle. For turtle enthusiasts the world over, those two words commonly incite an innate reaction for this not-so-common turtle. That reaction is often one of awe, fascination, and even desire. This diminutive, cryptic, mahogany-colored turtle featuring prominent orange, red, yellow, and even white blotches on the sides of its head is, for many, “the grail turtle.” For those dedicated to the Bog Turtle’s (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) survival in the wild, active and often intensive measures are necessary to ensure the “grail” stays safe.

Photo 1: A Bog Turtle displaying a newly outfitted radio transmitter. Credit: Colin Osborn

A successful quest to observe this species in the wild is for the lucky, the skilled, or, frequently, both. Luckier still is the ability to observe, research, and record their natural history, biology, and ecology, and perform conservation actions for their survival. And, because they are protected by the Endangered Species Act as Threatened, the ability to do so requires state and federal permits. In 2023, the Turtle Survival Alliance-North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group (NAFTRG) was afforded the opportunity to commence a research initiative to study the spatial ecology of Bog Turtles at an undisclosed population in northern New Jersey, where it is listed as State Endangered and a Northeast Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

Photos 2 & 3: Bog Turtles are notoriously cryptic, spending much of their time hidden beneath mud or amongst dense vegetation. Credit: Colin Osborn

The Bog Turtle is native to the Eastern United States, ranging from northeast Georgia to Massachusetts and western New York. The species lives in two disjunct management units, northern and southern, separated by ~270 miles (436 km). Although called the Bog Turtle, the species lives in stream-, spring-, and seep-fed fens, sedge meadows, sphagnum bogs, marshes, and open shrubby swamps. All of these habitats are highly imperiled, fragmented, and commonly isolated, as are their resident turtles—so much so that the Bog Turtle is considered Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Of the states inhabited by Bog Turtles, New Jersey still holds some of the strongest populations, despite being situated between New York City and Philadelphia, the United States’ first and sixth most populated metropolises, respectively.

The newest project of NAFTRG, in collaboration with the New Jersey DEP’s Fish and Wildlife Endangered and Nongame Species Program and State Herpetologist Brian Zarate, and generously funded by TC Energy Corporation, seeks to further understand a small population of Bog Turtles through radio telemetry at a site that, until this year, has only been surveyed via visual encounter methods, with a relatively low number of turtles captured. Through radio telemetry, the goals of this initiative are to gather year-round data on turtle locations, ecology, and critical life histories such as behavior, unique home ranges, nesting sites, and overwintering hibernacula.

Photo 4: Colin Osborn and Joe Pignatelli, certified Bog Turtle technicians, hold turtles equipped with radio transmitters this spring. Credit: Joe Pignatelli

Tracking data gained from our study of Bog Turtles at this site in northern New Jersey will be used to best inform future habitat management actions to ensure “the grail turtle” persists in its shallow wetland homes long into the future.

Photo 5: Colin Osborn performs radio telemetry for Bog Turtles in a northern New Jersey wetland. Credit: Joe Pignatelli

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