NEWS - GOPHER TORTOISE ELIGIBLE FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST

Gopher tortoise eligible for endangered species list

August 08, 2011
RANDAL YAKEY / News Herald Writer

PANAMA CITY — The gopher tortoise is eligible for the endangered species list but with so many candidates ahead of it, joining the list may be a way off.

Instead, the National Wildlife Service (NWS) is asking those in Bay County and elsewhere in gopher tortoise habitat to do more to improve the habitat for the tortoise.

“You definitely have them in your area,” said Chuck Underwood of the NWS referring to Bay County. “And their numbers are falling.”

The gopher tortoise typically inhabits relatively well-drained, sandy soils and is generally associated with longleaf pine sand hills, but also occurs in scrub, dry hammock, pine flatwoods, dry prairie, coastal grasslands and dunes, mixed hardwood-pine communities, and a variety of disturbed habitats. Gopher tortoises excavate burrows up to 52 feet long and nine to 23 feet deep.

“You have dry sandy upland, which the tortoise likes. Unfortunately for them we also like to build on those sites,” Underwood said.

Gopher tortoises east of Mobile Bay will be added to the list of candidate species eligible for Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection. While candidate species receive no statutory protection under the ESA, inclusion on the candidate list promotes cooperative conservation efforts for these species.

The NWS can provide technical assistance and grants to private landowners and states that undertake conservation efforts on behalf of the gopher tortoise. The NWS also can work with landowners to develop voluntary agreements to allow citizens to manage their property in ways that benefit the tortoise. These agreements can be developed to provide regulatory certainty for landowners should the species become listed under the ESA.

“After careful review, we have determined the gopher tortoise east of Mobile Bay is facing many of the same problems and challenges as the western population, which is already listed as threatened,” said Cynthia Dohner, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We hope increased protection and conservation efforts in the next few years by private landowners and state and federal agencies in Alabama Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina can reduce those threats.”

In making this determination, the service completed a comprehensive review – known as a 12-month finding – and found sufficient scientific and commercial data to propose listing the species as threatened or endangered throughout its range.

However, the service is precluded from beginning work immediately on a listing proposal because its limited resources must be devoted to other, higher priority actions.

The eastern portion of the gopher tortoise’s range includes Alabama (east of the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers), Florida and Georgia.

In Florida, the state listed the gopher turtle as a threatened species.

“The real challenge now is to fine tune on-the-ground management and reach out to more private landowners, who can have a profound impact on recovery for all species in this ecosystem,” Dohner said.

Gopher tortoises can live to be over 50 years old, but do not reach reproductive age until they are 13 to 21 years old.

NEWS - LUCKY TORTOISE MAKES IT BACK HOME

Lucky tortoise makes it back home

 6th August 2011

• By Katie Bond »

THEY say cats have nine lives, but it appears that tortoises have just as much luck.
At more than 40-years-old, Boris has led an interesting and somewhat accident-prone life.
Boris, who is part of the furniture at the home of Iris Joyce, in Thames Avenue, Greenmeadow, was once almost burnt alive as he hid under a garden bonfire as it was being lit.
He regularly hides in compost bags put out for the bin lorry and on several occasions has been rescued in the nick of time before being thrown away. He also had his leg badly damaged by a wheelbarrow.
But in his latest escapade, Boris escaped from his back garden for the first time in his life and was picked up by a cautious and rather surprised passer-by who spotted him crossing a busy road in nearby Avonmead on July 25.
He was taken to Great Western Exotic Vets in Shrivenham Road where he was nicknamed Nomad by staff, and cared for until Wednesday when his worried owners found out where he was.
Iris’ daughter Carolyn Webb, 49, said: “I almost cried when I saw him, we were so worried and we want to say a big thank you to whoever it was that picked him up, because a lot of people wouldn’t have bothered.
“He lives in the garden and has never got out before. We have found the one place we think he may have got out and have fixed it.
“We had put notices up in the local shop then somebody told us they had heard a tortoise had been handed in at Great Western Exotic Vets.”
Boris was already a stray when he became part of the Joyce household. The family found him pottering around behind the Shield and Dagger pub in Greenmeadow 40 years ago, and when the original owner failed to come forward, they took him on as their own.
Carolyn said: “He is really quite a character – he just wanders around the garden and comes up to the patio door when he wants something, and he has got a sheepskin blanket by the radiator where he sleeps. It is quite funny for a tortoise.”
Vet Neil Forbes said Boris was fortunate to be alive.
“He was very lucky, it is not the sort of thing most motorists would swerve to avoid because they would never expect to see a tortoise crossing the road.
“He was in very good condition, there was nothing wrong with him. He was just homeless – or should I say he had his house on his back, he had just lost his parking space?”

NEWS - TOBY THE TORTOISE CELBRATES 100 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY

Boulder's Toby the tortoise celebrates 100 years in captivity 

Local desert tortoise has lived with three families since 1911

By Laura Snider, Camera Staff Writer

Posted: 08/05/2011 

Toby the tortoise lumbered across a grassy yard Friday morning in Boulder with surprising speed and agility for a centenarian. (The fresh cob of corn being offered apparently was just too much to resist.)

"He likes to eat local," explained Toby's owner, Karen Churnside, as she finished shucking the corn she bought from Munson Farm. "It's his favorite."

This year, Toby the desert tortoise is celebrating his 100th year in captivity with such decadent treats as corn, apples and, best of all, dandelions. Perhaps it's the quality of the local fare, but Toby is showing no signs of slowing down.

"I think we're in a race, he and I," said Churnside, who suspects Toby may outlive her. "One of my kids will have to cope with this."

Toby was first plucked from his native Southern California desert home in 1911 by a 10-year old girl. The girl, whose name Churnside doesn't know, kept the tortoise for 60 years before she had to give him up when she moved into a nursing home. Neighbors in California adopted Toby and cared for him for another 12 years before they decided to look for new parents for Toby.

That's when Churnside, who had two small children at the time, took over caring for the tortoise.

"He's a good pet," she said. "He's quiet."

Toby comes to Boulder

Twenty-eight years later, Toby still lives with the Churnsides, though he's moved with the family further inland to Colorado (a relatively exotic location for a desert tortoise).

He
Toby, a desert tortoise that has lived in captivity for 100 years, eats a dandelion in Karen Churnside's yard in Boulder on Friday. Churnside is Toby s third "custodian" since 1911. ( MARK LEFFINGWELL )
spends his summer days sleeping in one of his two homes -- a half-hull of a kayak or a straw-bale den near the garden -- or mulling about the yard, usually just for a few hours in the morning, in search of dandelions and grasses.

"He usually gets up in the morning, gets some sun, gets his joints moving, and then tucks himself back in bed," Churnside said.

Though when Toby is feeling friskier, he has occasionally tried to run away, escaping through an open garage door into the big wild world of Boulder. This is why the Churnsides have now attached a pink heart-shaped tag to Toby's shell with his name and a phone number. Just in case.

Toby spends the wintertime -- which, for him, stretches form mid-October to mid-April -- wrapped in newspaper and hibernating in Churnside's closet.

'Definitely a milestone'

Renee Lizotte, of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which runs a desert tortoise adoption program, said that living to 100 is not uncommon for a well-cared-for tortoise.

"It's not rare, but it's a milestone," she said. "It's definitely a milestone."

(Earlier this summer, Toby celebrated that milestone with a gathering of more than 100 admirers.)

These days, it's not legal to take desert tortoises from their native environments. The adoption program in Arizona searches for tortoise "custodians" to take care of hatchlings that were born in captivity and can't survive in the wild. And those tortoises shouldn't be taken from their home states, Lizotte said.

While Toby sounds well cared for, Lizotte said Boulder is generally too cold of a place to keep a tortoise, especially if an owner tries to keep it outside in the winter.

"They are taking special care and special steps to make sure that the tortoise is healthy, and that's fine," Lizotte said. "But it is not appropriate to have a tortoise in Boulder."

NEWS - ROMAING TORTOISE HOME AGAIN

Roaming tortoise home again

By PRENTISS FINDLAY

CHARLESTON — Fred the stray tortoise and owner Heather Galvin were reunited Thursday at the Charleston Animal Society.
He is known to be bullish about busting loose. It’s why the Galvins got him at half-price from a Ladson man, who said Fred rammed through fences.
In this case, Fred is believed to have climbed over the thick walls of his 3-foot-tall enclosure on James Island. He made it three blocks into Folly Road, where he reportedly stopped traffic until animal control picked him up late Wednesday afternoon.

Fred is a 90-pound sulcata tortoise and he’s part of the Galvins’ family. He responds to his name and follows his owners around in the backyard. He enjoys fruits and vegetables from a produce stand at Folly and Fort Johnson roads.
Fred got loose from his new home on Needlegrass Street in the Beachcomber development near Folly Beach where the Galvins moved about six weeks ago.
At the animal society, there was some discussion about whether Fred was allowed in the Charleston city limits, but animal control determined he was OK at his new home although his owners might need to acquire a permit.
“My husband loves turtles and frogs and that kind of thing,” Heather Galvin said.
They also have 10 box turtles, a golden retriever, a greyhound and a cat.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Galvins noticed Fred was AWOL from his pen.
They spent hours searching. The first lead they got was a neighbor’s Facebook page photo of the tortoise crossing a driveway.
“When he’s on a mission, he can move about a mile or two a day,” Heather Galvin said.
Folly Beach Animal Control picked up Fred late Wednesday on Folly Road in front of the Piggly Wiggly.
“He’s so big he couldn’t fit into the cage. He had to go into the back of the truck,” said Kay Hyman, spokeswoman for the animal society.
At 15 years old, Fred is a youngster. The tortoise, native to Africa, can live to be more than 100 years old and weigh up to 250 pounds.
The animal society has had four tortoises that Hyman remembers. Fred has been the biggest, Hyman said.

NEWS - TORTOISE SLOW ESCAPE HAS OWNERS HEART RACING

Tortoise's slow escape has owner's heart racing

Aug. 4, 2011 

Lucky that Mel has a shell, because he's going to need it.

The tortoise escaped from Kathy Janka's yard Sunday and wandered down Michigan Ave. in South Milwaukee. A neighbor, apparently not knowing who owned the tortoise, thought he was being helpful by taking it to Grant Park nearby and letting it go.
On one hand, this is Mel's big adventure after a lifetime in captivity. On the other, it's a perilous trek into the wild, or at least the county park version of the wild.
Kathy and her children are worried sick. They have two other tortoises at home.
"My hope is that some child who was fishing picked him up and took him home," she said. "I'm praying someone sees the article and has him, or knows who does."
Mel is dome-shaped, about the size of a football and brownish tan in color.
An African spurred tortoise may not look all that lovable, but it's been Kathy's pet for the past two years since it was a baby.
"They're very amusing to watch," she said. "They're not super cuddly because they have claws. And you're not supposed to kiss them because they have salmonella. But sometimes you just want to because they're so cute."
Mel lives in a glass enclosure inside the house but spends sunny summer days in a pen in the yard. Kathy is not certain how it escaped, but she thinks her brother's dog might have reached in and picked up the tortoise in its mouth.
Mel then sneaked under the fence around the yard and headed for freedom. Kathy found out later that a neighbor lady spotted the tortoise and gave it to another neighbor, who took it to the park. She learned that Mel was placed near a stream that runs through the park and into Lake Michigan.
A tortoise of this type wants little to do with the water. "They can't swim. They're like rocks," said Teresa Ring, an employee at Hoffer's Tropic Life Pets, 7323 N. 76th St.
"So I hope no one picked it up and threw it in the water because they were trying to help or they were trying to be funny," she said.
The shop where she works has nine large African spurred - sometimes called Sulcata - tortoises. Most of them are rescue reptiles, dropped off at the store by people who were moving or uninterested in caring for them any longer. These things can live 100 years and grow to coffee table size. Hoffer's charges $129 for baby tortoises.
As long as the weather stays warm - and predators stay away - Mel could survive in the park by eating grass and greenery and by burrowing into the ground for protection. This is a species accustomed to the Sahara Desert, so the chilly weather that comes with autumn could trigger a respiratory infection, and winter cold is unthinkable, Ring said.
That's the urgency Kathy is feeling about getting her pet back and the reason she's offering a $50 reward. The 34-year-old unemployed caregiver has searched the park and posted fliers at the public library, Dairy Queen, grocery stores, factory break rooms and on Craigslist. She also has reported the loss to police, park workers, the humane society and the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission.
For now, the hours tick by at a tortoise's pace.

NEWS - WORLDS OLDEST LIVING ANIMAL IS 178 YEAR-OLD TORTOISE

World's oldest living animal is 178-year-old tortoise

Source:	(AHN)	Reporter:	Diane Alter
Location:	St. Helena, United Kingdom	Published:	August 4, 2011

Perhaps the secret to longevity is being comfortable in your own shell.
A picture taken during the Boer War around 1900 helps to mark Jonathon, the turtle, as the oldest living animal.
Jonathan, now 178-years-old, was about 70 when the photo was snapped on the South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he still lives today along with five other tortoises: David, Speedy, Emma, Fredrikca and Myrtle.They all reside on a special plantation owned by the government of St. Helena.
Jonathan life has spanned eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II, and 50 prime ministers.
Despite his old age, Despite his years, Jonathan still has the vim and vigor to regularly mate with the three younger females.

NEWS - POACHERS NABBED WITH WORLDS RAREST TORTOISE

Poachers nabbed with world's rarest tortoise

(AFP) – 5 hours ago 

PARIS — Police in Madagascar have arrested two men attempting to smuggle out nearly 200 threatened tortoises, including two dozen of the rarest species on Earth, a conservation group said Thursday.
The 26 specimens of Ploughshare tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) seized comprise about five percent of the estimated surviving wild population of the critically endangered animal, native to northern Madagascar.
Authorities found the live tortoises in a box and three bags on the tarmac at Antananarivo's Ivato Airport, according to TRAFFIC, which monitors illegal trade in wildlife.
The contraband was minutes from being loaded on a plane, and was destined -- after transfers in Nairobi and Dubai -- for Jakarta, Indonesia, police reportedly said.
"In the case of rare, high value species like these, they would certainly have been destined for the pet trade in Asia," Richard Thomas of TRAFFIC said of the Ploughshare tortoises.
Border police also found 169 Radiated tortoises (Asstrochelys radiata) and one Spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides), prized by collectors internationally.
All three species are classified as critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the benchmark reference for the conservation status of wildlife.
International trade in the species -- which are also protected under national law in Madagascar -- is illegal, but seizures are not uncommon in markets in Southeast Asia.
A recent investigation by TRAFFIC, which is funded jointly by the IUCN and WWF, found all three species in markets in Thailand, more than 150 specimens in all.
"Responsibility does not lie with Madagascar alone, but also with importing countries," said Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC's regional deputy director for Souteast Asia.
"Authorities in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia should take firm and immediate action against those trading in these species and put an end to this illicit trade."
The wild population of Ploughshares, which grow to 40 centimetres (16 inches) and up to 10 kilos (22 pounds), has dwindled rapidly in recent decades, and is estimated at 440 to 700 individuals.
Historically eaten locally as a delicacy, its habitat has been drastically reduced by agricultural practices, especially the burning of fields. The main threat today is poaching for the illegal pet trade, according to the IUCN.
The species is now restricted to five small, isolated sub-populations, and could have as few as 200 remaining adults that can reproduce.

NEWS - TORTOISE SANCTUARY RECLASSIFIED AS A ZOO BY HEALTH & SAFTY OFFICIALS - FACES CLOSURE AFTER IT CANT PAY FOR LICENCE

Tortoise sanctuary reclassified as a zoo by health and safety officials faces closure after it can't shell out for expensive licence

*The tortoises were officially recognised as 'wild animals'  

*Zoo' requires a £290 a year licence 

*Needs to pay thousands of pounds in modifications, upgrades, bi-annual Defra visits

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:14 PM on 27th July 2011

Britain's only dedicated tortoise sanctuary has been served with a 35 day closure notice - after council officials reclassified it as a zoo.
The Tortoise Garden in the rural village of Sticker, Cornwall caters for around 400 unwanted, abandoned or poorly tortoises, many of which would die without help.
They are cared for by owner Joy Bloor, 68, who set up the facility in her back garden around 12 years ago.

Last year she was informed the sanctuary was being classified as a zoo after the animals were officially recognised as 'wild animals', which, under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, requires a £290 a year licence.
There is also a strict set of criteria to which Joy must adhere, which she says will cost thousands of pounds in modifications and upgrades, as well as shelling out for bi-annual Defra visits.


She looks after 15 different species of tortoise at the family-run business, many of which are elderly pets that have outlived their owners or whose owners feel they cannot care for them properly.
Joy, who runs the business entirely on donations with Geoff Lean and son Terry, said: 'It is not the cost of the zoo licence which is the problem.

Wild animals: Health and safety officials have demanded Joy turn the sanctuary into a zoo

'We have already had a zoo inspector in who says we need a food preparation area with two sinks in and a separate water supply.
'The costs would be ridiculous. If you are classified as a zoo you also have to have an inspection twice a year by a Defra appointed vet.
'You have to pay all their expenses and costs and that itself can cost over £1000 per time.'
Former cardiography technician Joy set up the sanctuary 12 years ago after stepping in to house unwanted pets, before she started receiving more and more tortoises. 
Last year she was told she would need a licence to run the sanctuary and closed to the public for the winter from September to April. 
She claims that during this time she dealt with government-run agency Defra, who are not backing the councils ruling.
But she re-opened in April and on July 22 received a letter from a health and safety officer at Cornwall Council telling her she has 35 days to obtain a zoo licence or shut down for good.
Joy estimates that she has 12,000 visitors a year mostly made up of tourists visiting the area, and they allow the sanctuary to be self-sufficient.
She said: 'The letter I was sent is ridiculous and it is the work of a bureaucratic pig-headed council.
'Every single tortoise here was, at some point, someone's domestic pet, and probably for a long, long time.
'So how can you reclassify them as a wild animal if they have never lived in the wild? 'We are not a zoo, and if we are forced to be classified as one we will have to close and therefore we won't receive any funding.' Joy even stepped in when Newquay Zoo wanted to get rid of their Russian tortoises to make way for more exotic breeds.  The sanctuary currently looks after some unusual species including one 107-year-old African spurred tortoise and eleven sulcata tortoises which each weigh a massive seven stone.
Joy added: 'I will probably end up in prison because there is no way I'm closing the sanctuary.
'If the sanctuary is closed I won't be able to afford to feed them and then I don't know what will happen. It's too sad to think about.' A spokesman for Cornwall Council said: 'After an exhaustive process, it has been independently established that the Tortoise Garden meets the definition of a zoo.
'As the premises has reopened to the public and is operating without a zoo licence, the council has written to the proprietor to give 35 days' notice of a zoo closure notice being served.
'If the proprietor chooses not to apply for a zoo licence once the closure notice has been served she will have 28 days to appeal to magistrates court before it comes into force.' 

NEWS - NO FEDERAL PROTECTION FOR GOPHER TORTISES UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

No federal protection for gopher tortoises under Endangered Species Act

July 27, 2011,

By Ben Raines, Press-Register 

MOBILE, Alabama — Gopher tortoises living east of the Tombigbee River deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act but will not get it because listing the species would cost too much and draw resources away from other threatened animals, federal officials said Tuesday morning.
Tortoises living west of the Tombigbee River in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have been protected under federal law since 1987, which means landowners and government agencies must take precautions to avoid harming the animals. During a Tuesday morning press conference, officials announced that tortoises east of the river will now be considered a “candidate species” for federal protection.
“We believe the gopher tortoise population east of Mobile Bay is facing many of the same challenges as the population west of Mobile Bay,” said Cindy Dohner, the director the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Southeast region. “It is threatened or endangered throughout its range.”
Dohner said, however, that before the eastern population of gopher tortoise can become eligible for federal protection, it will have to wait in line behind 251 other species that are also considered candidates. Federal officials are under a court order to either protect the 251 candidate species or remove them from the candidate list within six years.
Janet Mizzi, head of the endangered animals division in Fish & Wildlife’s Southeastern office, said the agency would conduct a more thorough review of the tortoise population sometime in the next few years.
“Because of our budgets and how we extend the resources we do have, the status of the gopher will be weighed against other animals,” Mizzi said. “That status could change in one year or five years.”
The tortoises, once ubiquitous in south Alabama, have been in decline for decades, primarily because of habitat loss. They require the open, sunny forests that were typical in this area before the arrival of man.
Large numbers of gophers are still present in undisturbed habitats, such as pitcher plant bogs or broad longleaf pine savannas. But the dense, clogged forests seen along the edges of highways or in planted tree farms are not conducive to tortoise populations. About 88 percent of the animal’s habitat is privately owned, according to federal officials.

The animals are considered a keystone species in Southern forests, meaning many other species — from snakes and frogs to large mammals — rely on the long, complex tunnel systems the tortoises dig. The tunnels can be more than 50 feet long and reach more than 20 feet underground. They are used by more than 360 species across the tortoise’s range, which extends from Louisiana to the Carolinas.
“We know the gopher tortoise population is in trouble. Florida and Georgia consider the turtle threatened under state law. South Carolina considers it endangered. Louisiana and Mississippi consider it threatened under state law. Alabama protects it as a nongame species,” Dohner said.
“Its habitat is fragmented. Most troubling is that colonies are aging and not reproducing at rates that will support the population in the long term.”
Gopher tortoises cannot reproduce until they are about 13 years old, and can live to be 50. Requiring a stable environment and a fairly broad home range, development has an outsized effect on local populations. Something as simple as a roadway can kill large numbers of tortoises each year. Fences can present insurmountable obstacles, hindering everything from the search for mates to the hunt for food.
“We know there are a number of factors but haven’t been able to pinpoint” the reason for their decline, said Dave Hankla, a biologist with the service. “We know there are poor habitat conditions, but don’t know if that means we are not getting enough viability out of the eggs or if it comes down to predation.”
While no new federal protection is available to the tortoise, the listing as a candidate species means landowners, whether public or private, can apply for federal grants to improve tortoise habitat on their property, such as conducting prescribed burns.
Hankla said the agency has heard rumors that some landowners have threatened to exterminate tortoises from their property to avoid having to deal with a federally protected species.
“Our experience is that is talk, more than it is action,” Hankla said. “Our experience working with private landowners is very good on many listed species. There is a strong conservation ethic out there.”

ARTICLE - DO A GOOD DEED : EARN GOOD MERIT-SAVE A TURTLE OR TORTOISE TODAY

Do a good deed: earn good merit – Save a turtle or tortoise today

In Thailand, turtle release has been a traditional way of merit making for most Thais for all occasions, such as birthdays, on auspicious occasions as well as when life is not going so well.

Phuket Turtle Release is held on 13 April of each year at Naiyang Beach, a beach where for many years sea turtles have laid their eggs. It is also on this day that Phuket has its National Fish Bleeding Day. Turtle Release Fair is the mental strategies of conservation and for marine environment. Consideration of other creatures that are still required to rely on each other.

The mental activity at Mai Khao Beach

Tony Pedroni

The Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation was launched during the Grand Opening Celebrations of JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa in March 2002, with a cheque for two million Baht that was presented by Marriott International Inc and Royal Garden Resort Ltd., to start the fund.
Tony Pedroni, General Manager of JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation President, said of their project “We release baby turtles to their natural habitat to increase the sea turtle population and we try to protect and expand the existing sea turtle nesting and foraging habitats. It is also a great way of bringing awareness to tourists, children and local people with which we hope will achieve change for the better.


From nursery to Andaman Sea
After being raised by Phuket Marine Biological Center, a year-old sea turtle, being roughly one foot in length, healthy and has enough courage to face a new life in the Andaman Sea may become a marathon swimmer and arrive on the shore of the Indian Sea. Or perhaps go even further than that in its continued journey seeking food.
After surfing the ocean and the growing middle-aged, mother turtles will be back to beach that they left and Phuket must be ready for them and the 70-150 eggs which they will lay.
Different turtle species will have varying amounts of eggs per nest, or clutch. The Hawksbill may only have about 70-90 eggs per clutch, while the Green Turtle may have as many as 130 eggs per clutch. Eggs incubate on beach areas until the conditions are right and they hatch.

Turtle conservation - With love and understanding

Dr.Kongkiet Kittiwattanawong

Dr.Kongkiet Kittiwattanawong, Marine Technical Specialist of Phuket Marine Biological Center, said that turtles will usually lay their eggs between November and March every year. Sea turtles are nesting at several beaches in Phuket. Thus, all sectors will need to avoid disturbance to the beach because the turtles will come to spawn less. In addition, garbage must not be left in the sea, the reefs must not be destroyed and sea grass must be conserved as this is the turtle’s food.

Participate
Annual Sea Turtle Release Program: CSR charity donation at Laguna Phuket Thailand – set up in April every year.
Contact: CSRinfo@lagunaphuket.com
Annual Turtle Release at at Mai Khao by Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation
Contact: info@maikhaoturtles.com

NEWS - CRIPPLED TOTOISE GIVEN MOBILITY BACK AFTER VETS INSTALL WHEEL ON TO IT

Crippled tortoise given mobility back after vets install wheel on to it 

Jul 22 2011

A CRIPPLED African tortoise at Washington State University is now motoring - thanks to a DIY "artificial limb".
The caster-style wheel did not come from a high-tech prosthetics lab, but from a Washington hardware shop.
The two vets who installed the wheel on the tortoise after amputating a damaged front leg had to shell out just seven dollars (£4.29) at Ace Hardware in Pullman.
They said the wheel was bought off-the-shelf, as was the glue that attached it to the tortoise's shell.
The tortoise was shown off to the public yesterday and spent his time eating grass and other plants outside the WSU veterinary hospital.
Doctors Nicol Finch and Courtney Watkins say the tortoise is moving well and gaining weight.
It is the first time they have put a wheel on a tortoise, although the procedure has been done elsewhere.

NEWS - HURT TORTOISE GETS MOVING AGAIN

Hurt tortoise gets moving again

 

Posted: Jul 21, 2011 10:04 AM CDT Updated: Jul 21, 2011 10:38 AM CDT

By FOX 12 Staff -

PULLMAN, WA (KPTV) - A badly hurt tortoise is on the move again, after a leg injury threatened its life.
The owner of the 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise let go of the animal after its leg suffered a severe thermal injury and tissue damage from an unknown cause.
Veterinarians at Washington State University had to amputate the leg. Then they outfitted the tortoise with a swiveling ball-type caster on the bottom of its shell and say it is working splendidly.
The vets say the tortoise took to his new prosthetic quickly with little encouragement and moves quite well on most surfaces. The WSU doctors also surgically implanted a temporary feeding tube.  Dr. Nickol Finch, head of WSU's Exotic Animal Service said, "Understandably, complicated amputations in tortoises are not common surgeries, so we did not know how well he would eat afterwards."
He said the feeding tube worked as well and the tortoise has gained weight. The tortoise is named Gamera from a fictional giant, flying turtle from a popular series of Japanese giant monster films produced in 1965.

ALLIGATOR ALLEY

Saturday, February 26, 2011
ALLIGATOR ALLEY

its not what you think. names very missleading. its not an alley at all, not even one with alligators. ok, theres a FEW alligators, but they are all behind glass and in water..so they arnt roaming free or anything.

ALLIGATOR ALLEY is a..pet store.
yup, a reptile and such pet store.
we were told about it. and never went to find it, and we happened to be on the side of town we thought it was on, and drove to find it, and couldnt. went home googled the right address to find we were just a few blocks away from it when we decided to stop looking.

so we went back the next day, to see what they had to offer.
we were really interested in seeing if the had a larger tank for the bearded dragons, because they were growing out of what they came in..and needed more room, so we went to see what they had to offer by way of a super large tank, and for how much.

taxes were gonna be coming in, and one objective was to get this bigger tank.

so, we looked around.

and they had some of the CUTEST baby turtles...i wanted to get one for craig, who has pined and bellyached over the loss of the baby turtle his mom "got rid of" when he went off to college.
im sure she just let it free. but that incident has haunted him ever since.
he will go on and on about how cute that baby box turtle was when he found him in the woods, and how sad he was to discover his pet was gone when he came home from school once.

so, my thinking was, id get him another baby turtle.
to which i kept getting met with.."its ANOTHER animal to take care of" or, "its a russian tortoise, i dont know what they do or like or anything."

please. you know youll love the baby turtle and they arnt THAT much maintenance.

i didnt care, i wanted to get him that baby turtle.

we didnt come away with anything.

i did get the pic i took of craig ontop of the HUGE tortoise statue that sits out front of the place.

MICHELLE

ALLIGATOR ALLEY

its not what you think. names very missleading. its not an alley at all, not even one with alligators. ok, theres a FEW alligators, but they are all behind glass and in water..so they arnt roaming free or anything.

ALLIGATOR ALLEY is a..pet store.
yup, a reptile and such pet store.
we were told about it. and never went to find it, and we happened to be on the side of town we thought it was on, and drove to find it, and couldnt. went home googled the right address to find we were just a few blocks away from it when we decided to stop looking.

so we went back the next day, to see what they had to offer.
we were really interested in seeing if the had a larger tank for the bearded dragons, because they were growing out of what they came in..and needed more room, so we went to see what they had to offer by way of a super large tank, and for how much.

taxes were gonna be coming in, and one objective was to get this bigger tank.

so, we looked around.

and they had some of the CUTEST baby turtles...i wanted to get one for craig, who has pined and bellyached over the loss of the baby turtle his mom "got rid of" when he went off to college.
im sure she just let it free. but that incident has haunted him ever since.
he will go on and on about how cute that baby box turtle was when he found him in the woods, and how sad he was to discover his pet was gone when he came home from school once.

so, my thinking was, id get him another baby turtle.
to which i kept getting met with.."its ANOTHER animal to take care of" or, "its a russian tortoise, i dont know what they do or like or anything."

i didnt care, i wanted to get him that baby turtle.

we didnt come away with anything.

i did get the pic i took of craig ontop of the HUGE tortoise statue that sits out front of the place.

MICHELLE