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.

One of the biggest undertakings the TSA is facing in the coming weeks is one that we couldn't have planned for - a major confiscation of smuggled turtles and tortoises in Hong Kong. Our friends at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) in Hong Kong contacted us in February seeking our assistance. The government had seized approximately 1,300 turtles, including over 150 endangered Asian Temple Turtles (Heosemys/Hieremys annandalii) and almost 200 critically endangered Madagascan Radiated Tortoises (Astrochelys radiata), and did not have the resources to house or care for the animals.

The European Union has traditionally been a very important market for the reptile trade. We all think of Germany, of course, but all the other countries have a strong appeal for traders, both legal and illegal. As the EU and National regulations became tighter (a process still going on), the illegal trade in turtles has grown, calling higher attention from several Law Enforcement Agencies throughout Europe. This has resulted in a number of seizures: although a complete picture is difficult to put together, information gathered by the writer point to an average of 2000-3000 specimen per year from 2005 to 2008.

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.