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This TSA article, by Dwight Lawson and Rick Hudson, published in the May edition of the AZA magazine Connect features conservation stories from Asia and the Pacific. We were invited to submit this article, which exhibits a growing recognition and respect in the zoo community for the work of TSA. This article reviews a few TSA range country programs, particularly those where TSA has built facilities.

Download the Article Here.

Globalization has brought Americans tech support from India, Chinese-made Christmas lights, T-shirts from Bangladesh and those inexpensive Aussie wines, but U.S. conservationists are sounding the alarm that global trade is a two way street that threatens American wildlife — thanks to rising economic tides in Asia and the fast and easy import-export routes between China and the U.S.

Turtles — except for the occasional slow road-crosser — are not on most Americans’ radar. But the Asian appetite for turtles, whose meat and body parts are believed to hold a variety of medicinal and life-enhancing qualities, is creating a global market for U.S. turtles and tortoises.

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Two turtles bask in shallow water in a creek at the University of Texas at Arlington. Tens of thousands of turtles are harvested every year.

Following the lead of several states in the South, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission agreed Wednesday to move forward with proposed regulations that would ban the commercial collection of turtles in the state.

The about-face — from no limits to the possibility of a prohibition — is due to the growing concern among biologists and state wildlife officials that Texas’ population of turtles is threatened by business.

For more on this story click HERE

A Northern spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides brygooi, native to southwestern Madagascar, hatched Dec. 23 at the Knoxville Zoo. 6 more eggs are currently being incubated at the zoo. Only 12 adult males and 11 adult females live at Knoxville and four other U.S. zoos. Of those, Knoxville has one male and two females. One female was acquired in 1999 and a second in 2005. The zoo’s only male arrived in 2004.

The TSA announces a discount agreement between the TSA and RICA Surgical Products, Inc. of Schiller Park Illinois. Beginning immediately all TSA members will receive a 20% discount from RICA when purchasing any of their patented “Thermal Pads”.

The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) is pleased to announce that efforts to save one of the world’s most endangered turtles took a major step forward recently. A new captive breeding and management facility for the Burmese roofed turtle, Kachuga trivittata, was officially opened on Dec. 12, 2006 at the Yadanobon Zoo in Mandalay, Myanmar.