Critically Endangered Ploughshare tortoises rescued from smugglers

Ploughshare tortoises that were rescued from smugglers - Photo credit of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

August 2011. A shipment of extremely rare and threatened Malagasy tortoises has been seized by officials in Madagascar as smugglers attempted to board a flight with around 200 specimens. Two men, one a native of Madagascar and an Indian national were arrested.

27 Ploughshare and 169 Radiated tortoises
The haul of rare creatures was made up of 27 ploughshare tortoises, 169 radiated tortoises and one spider tortoise. The animals were divided into three suitcases and a number of boxes and following the Kenyan Airways flight to Nairobi the consignment was due to continue on to Dubai before reaching the final destination of Jakarta. The animals are worth tens of thousands of pounds in the illegal pet trade, where they are highly sought after.

The reptiles, believed to range in age from babies through to adult were not picked up on the airport scanning system, and it was as the luggage was loaded onto the aircraft that the authorities became suspicious and the illegal haul was discovered. The tortoises are currently being held at secure quarantine centres while the case is being investigated

"It is a fantastic result that these animals were discovered and the perpetrators caught by the authorities before leaving Madagascar. It is very important that people understand that smuggling these highly threatened animals is a serious crime and we look to the judiciary to apply the full weight of the law." Commented Richard Lewis, Director of Durrell's Madagascar Programme.

The ploughshare tortoise The ploughshare tortoise or angonoka has been hit by a series of disasters - not only has it suffered from burning of its habitat and hunting for food, but more recently the illegal pet trade has further reduced its numbers to fewer than 1,000 adults in the wild, and it is now the rarest tortoise in the world. Ploughshare tortoises are large reptiles (males weigh up to 19 kg) and get their English name from the plough-shaped projection of the front of the shell, under the neck, which males use for combat. They eat mostly herbs, shrubs and grasses in their bamboo-scrub habitat. Ploughshare tortoises do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 15 years old. Females lay up to four small clutches of 1-6 eggs in each breeding season. The remaining tiny wild populations around Baly Bay in northwestern Madagascar are isolated from each other and hard to protect from poaching. The ploughshare tortoise is now at great risk of extinction in the wild within the next decade. Durrell has been working to save these wonderful animals for many years. Its captive breeding station at Ampijoroa now has an established breeding programme for ploughshare tortoises, and we have already released animals that have been reared in captivity into the wild. The plan is to reintroduce up to 100 animals. We have also helped to get the area designated as a national park and are working with local communities, involving them in the protection of the tortoises. Fires have been decreasing in frequency thanks to firebreaks managed by communities but the illegal pet trade remains the leading threat.

Tortoise decline in Madagascar

The reduction in the tortoise population of Madagascar can be traced back to the 18th and 19th century when animals were taken as a valuable food source for visiting sailors; in the 20th century adult tortoises were often used as ‘courtyard cleaners' for the more wealthy locals. The 1990's saw an explosion in the illegal pet trade, when young ploughshares were particularly popular with the European and American markets and a single individual could fetch thousands of dollars a tempting proposition for some of the Malagasy people whose average wage is less than a dollar a day.

Catastrophic affect on the native population
Now the current political instability in Madagascar has exacerbated the trafficking situation as global animal smuggling groups have seized the opportunity to exploit the situation. This coupled with the increase in wealth in South East Asia and China where purchasers are willing to pay top prices for live specimens as pets has had a catastrophic affect on the native population.

"Like most illegal trade in wildlife, we are dealing with a situation where external demand for animals is corrupting poverty stricken communities. While we are trying to support the enforcement of wildlife laws within Madagascar, we must also tackle the demand coming from overseas. This remains the single greatest challenge for the future of the ploughshare tortoise and countless other species" said Andrew Terry, Head of Durrell's Field Programmes.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have been working with the Critically Endangered ploughshare tortoise in Madagascar for the last 25 years and have over that time achieved considerable success with their captive breeding programme based in Ampijoroa; to date over 200 animals have been raised in the centre and 45 released into the wild. Durrell has started a new initiative with international partners to address the trade in ploughshare tortoises and to raise awareness of animals being traded illegally. We will continue to work with the national authorities and local NGOs such as Voahary Gasy in Madagascar and partners in South East Asia to halt the illegal trade in these species.