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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August 25, 2020
PHOTO RELEASE: The Turtle that Almost Went Extinct, Now Ready for Its Close-up
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) released a series of images showing hatchling Burmese roofed turtles (Batagur trivittata) – considered one of the most endangered turtles in the world.
Read the story
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May 23, 2020
WORLD TURTLE DAY NEWS: WCS Celebrating Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle Conservation in Cambodia on World Turtle Day 2020
To mark World Turtle Day, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) celebrates the conservation of the Critically Endangered Cantor’s giant softshell turtles in Cambodia.
Read the story
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May 22, 2020
Isolated Female Burmese Roofed Turtle Surprises Conservationists by Laying Fertile Eggs
Conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) in Myanmar have announced that this year for the first time, an isolated female Burmese roofed turtle living far upstream on the Chindwin River who...
Read the story
View All News
PHOTO RELEASE: The Turtle that Almost Went Extinct, Now Ready for Its Close-up
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) released a series of images showing hatchling Burmese roofed turtles (Batagur trivittata) – considered one of the most endangered turtles in the world.
Read the storyWORLD TURTLE DAY NEWS: WCS Celebrating Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle Conservation in Cambodia on World Turtle Day 2020
To mark World Turtle Day, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) celebrates the conservation of the Critically Endangered Cantor’s giant softshell turtles in Cambodia.
Read the storyIsolated Female Burmese Roofed Turtle Surprises Conservationists by Laying Fertile Eggs
Conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) in Myanmar have announced that this year for the first time, an isolated female Burmese roofed turtle living far upstream on the Chindwin River who...
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