Turtle Conservancy News and Program Updates
In a bold move to stress the pivotal role of the Aldabra tortoise in regional ecosystem restoration, as well as shed light on the plight of this particular species in the face of climate change and human interference, a collective of conservationists and philanthropists have announced the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance (IOTA), on the occasion of the first edition of the Paris Peace Forum – a new annual meeting for global governance actors…
What can you do, you ask? Vote. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE!! The midterm elections on November 6 offer all Americans a chance to shape our (and the turtles’) future for the better. If you believe that climate change is real, if you don't like wildlife poaching, if you don't want to see even more endangered turtles and other wildlife go extinct, you can vote for candidates who share your values. Vote! The turtles are counting on you...
We have been busy transitioning the turtles to fall temperatures in southern California at the same time our Conservation Center has undergone many improvements to the animal husbandry facilities during the month of October. The large greenhouse that houses the asian species of turtles got a major facelift, with all new enclosures and ponds to better fit the needs of the turtles living within. We sunk galvanized metal troughs into the ground to create individual ponds for our Chinese big-headed turtles. And began the process of updating the setups in the small greenhouse to fully maximize the space — we expect to have this complete by the end of next month.
Many thanks to the dedicated team who made all of this possible: Juan Hernandez, Lukasz Pogorzelski, Armando Jimenez, Noel Martinez, Julio Zarrate, Simon R., and Oscar Centeno!
The Turtle Conservancy Team was in attendance at many incredible conferences this month, including the WCN Expo in San Francisco, the Student Conference on Conservation Science in New York City, and the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael. Hats off to the organizers — We know how much effort and dedication it takes to produce a successful conservation event...
Did you know? Gopherus agassizii or the Mojave Desert Tortoise (Cooper 1861) gets its name from the word Gopher referring to the family of Geomyidae, small rodents known for their incredible ability to dig burrows (often through your garden!). The species name, agassizii, is a tribute to the Americano-Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz. This burrowing tortoise is found in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah...
On Saturday, September 29th Harrison Ford and Dr. Russell Mittermeier, along with five finalist, were honored in the Frank and Katrina Basile Theater in Indianapolis, IN. For his dedicated advocacy and outreach, Harrison Ford received the Jane Alexander Global Wildlife Ambassador Award, and Russ, lifelong conservationist and TC Board Member, received the Indianapolis Prize, a biennial award known as the Nobel Prize of conservation...
We have been incredibly busy this past month here at the Turtle Conservancy's Conservation Center. Two interns, Simon Rouot (L) and Noah Rodrigues (R), joined the TC Team, our incubators seemed to have revolving doors with new turtles hatching almost everyday, and major renovations and redesign of our large greenhouse is underway...
Join us in San Francisco on Saturday, October 13th at the Wildlife Conservation Network Expo. The Expo is full of interesting, inspirational presentations by conservationists from around the world. Be sure to stop by the Turtle Conservancy booth to learn more about our programs... View the full Expo schedule by clicking here, including information about each speaker.
Along with interfering in American elections, the Russians have now established themselves at the Turtle Conservancy–Russian tortoises, that is. Ten of the tortoises arrived over this summer as homeless rescues, abandoned when their owners tired of them. Our Russians are settling in nicely; they are completely uninterested in computers, so we're not concerned about their hacking into our systems...
