Tortoises & Freshwater Turtles
No other group of vertebrates is facing extinction like turtles. Nearly half of the 330 species are imminently threatened. Ten have populations of less than 100 individuals.
Why WCS?
8 regions
35 of the 63 most endangered turtles and tortoises live in eight of our priority regions.
1,000 hatchlings
The Magdalena River Turtle is among the many species we’ve reintroduced or supplemented the wild population of recently. In 2015 alone, we let over 1,000 hatchlings of this species go in Colombia.
On Our Strategies
Assist Local Law Enforcement
In Vietnam and China, WCS is actively involved in training and supporting wildlife police and customs officials in the monitoring of the illegal wildlife trade. Specific attention is given to species identification. In Cambodia, WCS's regular patrols in the western plains confiscate turtles and tortoises as they are attempted to be smuggled into Vietnam.
Lead Patrols to Reduce Poaching
In Myanmar, WCS protects the nests of the last ten Burmese roofed turtles left in the wild. This has resulted in over 600 juveniles being produced. Releases of the first head-started turtles began in 2015 and they were being monitored with radio-telemetry for dispersal and survival. In Cambodia, WCS protects the last population of the Southern River terrapin. In 2015, head-started juveniles were released with acoustic transmitters to monitor the movement of the turtles between freshwater habitats and the brackish mangrove forests of the river's mouth.
Work with Local Communities
In Colombia, over a thousand hatchling Magdalena River Turtles were released as part of a community effort to protect the turtles' nests from floodwaters. And in Ecuador, WCS works with local indigenous communities to manage five artificial nesting beaches for the giant Amazonian river turtle. More than 2,000 turtles have been returned to the wild to date.
At Our Facilities, Work to Maintain Critically Endangered Turtles and Tortoises
It is the hope that WCS can link the turtle and tortoise breeding programs at the city zoos with the field programs in the near future, particularly for species that are functionally extinct in the wild and where captive breeding may be the only means of preventing the extinction of the species.
Provide Veterinary Care to Confiscated Turtles
In 2015, the WCS Health Program was involved in the largest single species confiscation of critically endangered freshwater turtles on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. There they helped provided veterinary care to almost 4,000 Philippine Forest Turtles.
Related News
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October 11, 2017
Star Tortoise Makes Meteoric Comeback
October 11, 2017 – The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota), a medium-sized tortoise found only in Myanmar’s central dry zone, has been brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to an aggressive captive-breeding effort spearheaded...
Read the story
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June 26, 2017
Talking Turtles II: WCS Discovers More Turtles that Talk
June 26, 2017 – Scientists from WCS and other groups have found that the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) has joined a select group of chatty chelonians that can vocalize.
Read the story
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June 21, 2017
Over 150 Asian Giant Softshell Turtles Return to the Wild
June 21, 2017 – WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), in collaboration with Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration (FiA) and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), released 150 Endangered Asian giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) hatchlings ...
Read the story
View All News
Star Tortoise Makes Meteoric Comeback
October 11, 2017 – The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota), a medium-sized tortoise found only in Myanmar’s central dry zone, has been brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to an aggressive captive-breeding effort spearheaded...
Read the storyTalking Turtles II: WCS Discovers More Turtles that Talk
June 26, 2017 – Scientists from WCS and other groups have found that the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) has joined a select group of chatty chelonians that can vocalize.
Read the storyOver 150 Asian Giant Softshell Turtles Return to the Wild
June 21, 2017 – WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), in collaboration with Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration (FiA) and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), released 150 Endangered Asian giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) hatchlings ...
Read the storyStand for Wildlife
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