from the president’s desk the region. This unique species, the with additional staff, and soon we will Rick Hudson sole member of an entire family of hire a full-time Animal Management turtles, is disappearing rapidly due to Coordinator to oversee the captive Taking the good with the bad... overexploitation and a unified re- side of our program This position its all part of the business. sponse is urgently needed. We believe underscores the importance we placeon the TSA can lead this effort. theon captive brink management and the roleCuora The good news is (of course) it plays in ensuring the survival of tempered with the bad. In Malaysia, species. The upcoming iving on the front lines of turtle the government is advancing plans workshop is another example of this conservation certainly has its ups to channelize the Setiu River in commitment. and downs — from experiencing the Terrenganu, connecting it with the The 2010 annual TSA symposium excitement and surprise that comes South China Sea to allow fishermen in Orlando promises to be our best Lwith the all too infrequent good quicker access. This decisionBatagur would affinis yet!! New Conference Program Chairs news, to the lows that accompany the prove devastating to populationsB. borneoensis of Andrew Walde and Beth Walton have everyday tragic news that we have both River Terrapins ( ) done an exceptional job organizing this grown so accustomed to. But, you learn Batagurand Painted Terrapins ( ) year’s program and we have a packed to take the bad with the good and if in what is arguably the most important agenda that includes special sessions twothere steps is one forward, maxim one that step always back. holds site in all of Southeast Asia. on Madagascar and Chinese chelonians, true in the conservation business its... In Bangladesh,B. baska we learned that a pair to be followed by strategic planning of long-term captive Northern River sessions for both. With generous donor So first, someRafetus of the good news. Terrapins ( ) that we had support for both of these sessions, Today, June 17, 2010, we received planned to acquire for breeding had we will be able to bring in key players word that the female at Suzhou been killed and eaten. The female from those countries and engage them Zoo in China laid her first clutch of weighed 27 kg! Like the Yangtze Giant in a strategic planning process. Thesense the season: 63 eggs. We are optimistic Softshell Turtle, this species faces ofTSA community symposium is becoming increas- again this year, due to an improved diet imminent extinction unless urgent ingly important in providing that and hopefully better calcium stores. In conservation action is taken, and is that is so crucial to what Myanmar, despite intensive gold min- considered the second most endan- we do. People in developing countries ing activity around the primary nesting gered turtle in Asia. In Madagascar, we need to know where to turn for help, beach, we have recovered 115 new saw firsthand evidence of a massive and given the challenges before us this hatchlings of the Burmese Roof Turtle new trade in Radiated Tortoise meat, opportunity to share experiences and for the captive program — a record one that is clearly unsustainable resources helps restore our optimism number and an unexpected surprise. and that threatens the existence of and fuel our passion. And, despite our In Belize, ThomasDermatemys Rainwater’s river this once widespread and abundant myriad backgrounds, what binds us is surveys, though revealing dismal news species. our shared commitment to protecting on the status of , have So, how does the TSA expect to turtles and tortoises. Whether you mobilized the local conservation NGO deal with all these emerging threats are on the front lines working to save community to action, and we predict while at the same time continuing to species where they live or maintaining that this will have a catalytic affect in fund our core programs, like India and captive assurance colonies, please Myanmar? I believe the answer lies in know how much we appreciate your our new Board of Directors, a dedi- dedication to turtle conservation and cated, resourceful, and caring group the TSA of individuals that usually manages to Finally the TSA magazine has a new rise to the occasion. This group is not look and feel this year thanks to Louie shy about meeting difficult challenges, Porras and Eagle Mountain Publishing, and is fast becoming a globally recog- LC. Louie has years of experience in nized force for turtle conservation. In the publishing business and has been February of 2010, the TSA Board, in a pleasure to work with, absorbing just its second year of existence, ap- much of the editorial work that I did proved a ramped up budget that nearly previously. With Heather Lowe out on doubled the spending of 2009. Growing leave with a new baby, he has been a expectations can only be achieved godsend. Saludos, Louie!! table of Contents Turtle Survival Alliance Board of Directors President Vice President Rick Hudson, Secretary Dwight Lawson, Ph.D.,Treasurer Chuck Landrey, Executive Director Walter Sedgwick, Scott Davis, Ph.D., Bill Holmstrom John Iverson, Ph.D. Patricia Koval Lonnie McCaskill John Mitchell FEATURES RANGE COUNTRY UPDATES Russ Mittermeier Colin Poole Hugh Quinn, Ph.D. Anders Rhodin, M.D. Frank Slavens AdvisoryF. William CommitteeZeigler From the President’s Desk 2 Myanmar 42 Gary Ades Partners 3 Bangladesh 47 Bernard Devaux Tomas Diagne Cover Story 5 India 50 Arthur Georges Doug Hendrie Board of Directors 11 Madagascar 63 Brian Horne Gerald Kuchling Member Spotlights 12 Vietnam 71 Jackie Litzgus Peter Praschag Members Make the Difference 13 China 75 Maurice Rodrigues Peter Paul van Dijk Animal Management 15 Malaysia 77 Dick Vogt ProgramHenk Zwartepoorte Coordinator Significant Breedings 17 Cambodia 79 TSA Partner News 22 Belize 81 AugustHeather 2010Lowe tsa newsletter ©2010 tsa TSA Europe 30 Brazil 85 TSA Africa 38 Philippines 88 EXCLUSIVES, NEWS, AND Layout, Design, and Editorial Contractor: ANNOUNCEMENTS 7705 Wyatt Earp Avenue Eagle Mountain, UT 84005-4382 ww.eaglemountainpublishing.com Chelonian Natural History 92 Louis W. Porras, Editorial Consultant Donor Recognition 95 Megan Davies, Layout and Design Behler Award 96 [email protected] ABOUT THE COVER: During his first full day in the field on a March 2010 visit to southern Madagascar, Brian Horne made a Astrochelys radiata gruesome discovery. In a trash dump outside the coastal village of Faux Cap, he found the remains of over 200 Radiated Tortoises ( ) that had been slaughtered recently for food. The cover image vividly captures a broken carapace half buried in the wind-swept dunes, a grim harbinger of the carnage that the team would uncover over the following 10 days. For the past 15 years, the number of Radiated Tortoises harvested for food and export has steadily increased, but recent trends are particularly disturbing because they reflect a massive expansion in this trade. Wild populations of these tortoises, especially those close to urban centers, have been decimated and poachers are closing in on protected areas. Formerly numbering in the millions, the Radiated Tortoise now faces a situation similar to that of the American Bison. See story on p. 5. ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Brian D. Horne, Ph.D. currently serves in a dual position, coordinating the development and implementation of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s overall turtle conservation strategy as well as directing the Red-crowned Roof Turtle program in India for the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research. PArtners Partnerships are Key to the TSAs success zero turtle extinctions and rescue facilities, animal manage- artnershipWhen the alliance. TSA was founded in 2001, our promise of . we described our new organization as a The challenge of protecting turtle and ment, marketing and public relations, p Today that holds tortoise species today is far too great field research, logistical and technical truer than ever, and the collaborations for just a handful of organizations. We support, salaried positions, and a host listed below represent the realization must be strategic in our development of of other resources. Significantly, some of our original vision. These partner- partnerships in order to be most effec- of these partnerships have been with ships are what sustain us, support us, tive, and to marshal the right resources us since the early days, when the TSA provide us access to working with for- at the right place and time. was “born,” and all are an integral part eign governments, and ultimately ena- These myriad organizations provide of our success. On behalf of the Board ble us to grow and exert the impact that a range of services to our collective mis- of Directors of the TSA, we salute we do on turtle conservation; they are sion, including guidance, networking, this remarkable group of dedicated the core network that allows us to fulfill strategic planning, funding, turtle care partners. 2 TSA AUGUST 2010 Cover story — madagasCar Troubled Times for Radiated Tortoises Rick Hudson1 and Brian Horne, Ph.D.2 orrowing a quote from the B brian horne late John Behler, these are indeed “troubled times for turtles.”Astrochelys This rings radiata especially true for Madagascar’s Radiated Tortoise, , widely considered one of the world’s A. radiatamost strikingly beautiful tortoises. One of four endemic tortoises, occupies a narrow band of xeric spiny forest along the island’s southwestern coast. Traditionally avoided by indigenous tribes, these tortoises are now routinely harvested for food (Leuteritz, 2005). When John and RH first visited southern Madagascar nearly 20 years ago, Radiated Tortoises were abundant and one could hardly fathom why they were ever classified as an Endangered Species. We Not long ago, images such as this were common, with Radiated Tortoises on the road as far as drove to the coastal fishing village the eye could see.