Team Madagascar is Rick Hudson (Fort Worth Zoo/TSA), Brian Horne (San Diego Zoo/TSA), Bonnie Raphael, DVM and Berni Leahy (Wildlife Conservation Society).  We are guided by Herilala Randrianmahazo (WCS Madagascar) and accompanied by Tsanta, a 5th year veterinary student.

Goals and objectives:

1) Assist the WCS veterinary team in sampling Radiated Tortoise populations at Cap St. Marie Special Reserve, for disease screening (herpes virus, mycoplasma, iridovirus and intranuclear coccidia), parasites and physiologic blood values; this is a repeat of some of the work done in 1998 to detect if any changes have occurred.
2) Conduct pre-release health screen exams on a group of 50 radiata at Village des Tortues in Ifaty that are due to be released at Lac Tsiamananpetsoa in late 2010;
3) Collect samples from wild animals at Lac Tsimanampetsotsa for disease screening prior to this release;
4) Continue to collect GPS data on Spider Tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides, populations throughout coastal southwest Madagascar for the ongoing GIS mapping project;
5) Collect information for a grant proposal to secure funding to develop a model community-based protection program for Radiated Tortoises.  Potential target sites are Cap St Marie, Lavavolo and Lac Tsiamananpetsoa.
6) Provide training to veterinary student, Tsanta, from the veterinary school in Tana.

Shortly after arriving in the small town of Beloha, word of our arrival spread quickly. Not many “vazas”, a Malagsy term for light skinned foreigners, come to this area of Madagascar, especially ones studying tortoises.  We definitely drew some curious stares and in a manner of minutes we had offers to see tortoises. Although there was a light rain and the week’s first cold coca-cola was beckoning, I decided to accept the offer to see some tortoises. Sadly, the locals took me to the town’s trash dump to show me the remains of at least a dozen recently butchered Radiated Tortoises (Astrochelys radiata).  I had thought that perhaps I would see some pet tortoises or maybe a few juvenile animals for sale, but to see the adult carapaces of one of the world’s most strikingly beautiful tortoises mixed with the town’s refuge of broken baskets, old flip flops, and tattered clothing was a stark dichotomy of splendor and repulsion. Minutes later my first cold coca-cola after a week of hot and dirty fieldwork didn’t taste so refreshing after all.

The Madagascar spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides spp.), or Kapila as the species is referred to locally, has a carapace size of around 15cm, making it one of the world’s smaller tortoise species. With its intricate spider web type patterning on the carapace, it is arguably one of the world’s most beautiful and charismatic chelonia. 

Southwestern Madagascar
The tortoises of southwestern Madagascar are in serious trouble, but fortunately a remarkable duo of devoted tortoise conservationists are working on their behalf through the Village des Tortues at Ifaty.  Bernard Devaux and Olivier Razandrimamilafiniarivo (Mami, for short) are running the largest tortoise facility in the south specifically created for these critically endangered tortoises. 

On the captive management side of things, the TSA is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of 9.12 Northern spider tortoises (Pyxis a. brygooi) from a private breeder.  This nearly doubled the PMP managed population of brygooi in the U.S. and the specimens were placed with three institutions (Cleveland Metroparks, San Diego and Knoxville Zoos) and one private facility (Matt Frankel), each of which helped to cover the cost of acquisition. Recent field surveys by Ryan Walker have documented dramatic declines of brygooi across their range, primarily due to agricultural conversion and hunting for food, such that this subspecies is now considered the most endangered of Madagascar’s dwarf tortoises.  These new specimens will go to further strengthen our managed population and will contribute to the fine work already being done at our other facilities working on breeding this subspecies, namely Dan Pearson, Behler Chelonian Center, James Badman, and the St. Louis Zoo.

- Rick Hudson and Michael Ogle