Tortoise Brigade Will Fight Illegal Pet Trade

Spider tortoises are one of the critically endangered turtles and tortoises of Madagascar. Like the ploughshare, flat-tailed and juvenile radiated tortoises, spider tortoises are coveted by collectors and traded as pets on the international black market.

Photo: Julie Larsen Maher / Wildlife Conservation Society

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Five of nine endangered turtles and tortoises on Madagascar have been downgraded to "critically" endangered, following a meeting of conservation groups who met recently in the island nation's capital, Antananarivo. The groups proposed forming a "turtle brigade" to crack down on the main factor threatening turtles and tortoises: illegal trade.

View photos and read more about Madagascar's tortoise crisis.

Several species are traded illegally on the black market to provide turtles as pets internationally. (For their sake, don't choose turtles for pets, but if you do, take care to buy only a legal species.) There is still hope to save the species, but habitat loss and hunting are also helping to drive the species toward extinction.

There are only a few hundred remaining ploughshare tortoises. The other critically endangered species include the radiated tortoise, the flat-tailed tortoise, the spider tortoise and the Madagascar big-headed turtle.

“Madagascar’s ancient tortoises and turtles are marching toward extinction unless an all-out effort is made to protect these living national treasures,” said Dr. James Deutsch, director for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Africa programs. “The good news is that there’s still time to save Madagascar’s tortoises and turtles from extinction, and we know how to tackle the issues.”

Like many other wildlife, these species are found on Madagascar and nowhere else. When Madagascar drifted away from Africa some 165 million years ago, wildlife on the island spun off on its own unique evolutionary path, producing the world's only lemurs, as well as dozens of amphibian and bird species found nowhere else on earth. That unique wildlife, which was only discovered by humans 2,000 years ago, has prompted many to refer to the island as an Eden-like remnant of the natural world as it was before human contact.

Ploughshare, spider and flat-tailed tortoises, along with juvenile radiated tortoises, are particularly coveted by collectors and traded as pets on the international black market. Meanwhile, adult radiated tortoises are sold for food in regional markets.

The groups envision a "tortoise brigade" that would monitor and control illegal trade. Confiscated tortoises could be "repatriated" to areas where populations had been decimated by illegal trade, and with subsequent enforcement, eco-tourism opportunities could follow. The brigades would also educate local people about their own traditions, which include more sustainable relationship to turtles.

The turtle pet and food trade is not only a problem in Madagascar. It is a leading cause of turtle and tortoise declines worldwide.

People who live in or visit the New York City can attend a Bronx Zoo exhibit about Madagascar that will include radiated and spider tortoises. It opens June 19 (in a green building to boot).

View photos and read more about Madagascar's tortoise crisis.

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