Madagascar's endemic turtles and tortoises are threatened by the pet trade, poaching for food, and habitat destruction, but their conservation offers opportunities for community-based ecotourism.

Madagascar's rare and unique turtles and tortoises face high risk of extinction in the wild if conservation measures are not rapidly put into place, warned a group of scientists meeting to discuss the fate of Madagascar's most threatened repitles.

Gathering in Madagascar's capital city of Antananarivo, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups said that habitat destruction, illegal hunting, and the wildlife trade for the international pet market are the biggest threats to Madagascar's turtles and tortoises. Five of the nine species assessed by IUCN have been downgraded to critically endangered, including the ploughshare tortoise, radiated tortoise, flat-tailed tortoise, spider tortoise and Madagascar big-headed turtle.

"Madagascar's ancient tortoises and turtles are marching toward extinction unless an all-out effort is made to protect these living national treasures," said Dr. James Deutsch, director for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Africa programs. "The good news is that there's still time to save Madagascar's tortoises and turtles from extinction, and we know how to tackle the issues."

The committee recommended the formation of a "tortoise brigade" to monitor and control illegal trade. Confiscated tortoises would be returned to the wild in areas where populations had been overexploited. The researchers said that with proper law enforcement and protection, the restoration of turtles and tortoises could boost ecotourism, providing income for local people.

Five of nine endangered turtles and tortoises on Madagascar have been downgraded to "critically" endangered, following a meeting of conservation groups who met recently in the island nation's capital, Antananarivo. The groups proposed forming a "turtle brigade" to crack down on the main factor threatening turtles and tortoises: illegal trade.

Several species are traded illegally on the black market to provide turtles as pets internationally. (For their sake, don't choose turtles for pets, but if you do, take care to buy only a legal species.) There is still hope to save the species, but habitat loss and hunting are also helping to drive the species toward extinction.

There are only a few hundred remaining ploughshare tortoises. The other critically endangered species include the radiated tortoise, the flat-tailed tortoise, the spider tortoise and the Madagascar big-headed turtle.

"Madagascar's ancient tortoises and turtles are marching toward extinction unless an all-out effort is made to protect these living national treasures," said Dr. James Deutsch, director for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Africa programs. "The good news is that there's still time to save Madagascar's tortoises and turtles from extinction, and we know how to tackle the issues."

Like many other wildlife, these species are found on Madagascar and nowhere else. When Madagascar drifted away from Africa some 165 million years ago, wildlife on the island spun off on its own unique evolutionary path, producing the world's only lemurs, as well as dozens of amphibian and bird species found nowhere else on earth. That unique wildlife, which was only discovered by humans 2,000 years ago, has prompted many to refer to the island as an Eden-like remnant of the natural world as it was before human contact.

Ploughshare, spider and flat-tailed tortoises, along with juvenile radiated tortoises, are particularly coveted by collectors and traded as pets on the international black market. Meanwhile, adult radiated tortoises are sold for food in regional markets.

The groups envision a "tortoise brigade" that would monitor and control illegal trade. Confiscated tortoises could be "repatriated" to areas where populations had been decimated by illegal trade, and with subsequent enforcement, eco-tourism opportunities could follow. The brigades would also educate local people about their own traditions, which include more sustainable relationship to turtles.

The turtle pet and food trade is not only a problem in Madagascar. It is a leading cause of turtle and tortoise declines worldwide.

People who live in or visit the New York City can attend a Bronx Zoo exhibit about Madagascar that will include radiated and spider tortoises. It opens June 19 (in a green building to boot).

Hazaribagh, Jan 28: Police gunned two tortoise smugglers at GT Road in Hazaribagh last night when some five smugglers were trying to flee to Bengal with five sacks filled with rare species of tortoises, Samay sources said.

Police tried to intercept these smugglers on suspicion but instead of surrendering themselves, they opened firing. In the retaliatory firing, two of the smugglers were killed and three others managed to escape in the dark of night.

Police recovered five sacks filled with tortoises, they said, adding some of them were Star tortoises, which is a rare species.

These tortoises are first smuggled to Bengal and from there to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, where they are sold at exorbitant prices.

The tortoises fetch big money because they are used in the making of some medicines and also because some people in these countries eat them.

The selling and purchasing of tortoises is banned.

Gemma Taylor writes

Traffic Southeast Asia and Singapore Zoo have launched a turtle guidebook to enable conservationists and enforcement officers to correctly identify species which are legally and illegally traded.

The book, 'An Identification Guide to the Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore and Timor Leste', is being handed free of charge to enforcement officers in the area. The jargon-free guide will enable on-the-spot identification of tortoise and freshwater turtle in the trade.

Traffic's Dr Mark Auliya, author of the guide and scientific officer, said: 'The destructive scale and impact of the turtle trade is driving some species to extinction and for most species, the situation is critical.'

The main threat, according to the guide is, 'the enormous demand for the food and traditional medicine trade in eastern Asia', however the pet trade is also a threat to the species' survival.

The majority of turtles for the pet trade exported from Indonesia, for example, are bound for America, Europe and Japan. Many of the species in the guide, which have the potential to end up as Asian medicine or exotic pets in the UK, are CITES Appendix I or II species and therefore regulated or (largely) banned from international trade.

'In light of the phenomenal rise in illegal turtle and tortoise poaching incidences in Southeast Asia, we hope this guidebook will serve as a reference for all, in identifying threatened turtle species and will play a role in protecting and conserving them,' said Ms Fanny Lai, Group CEO, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, of which Singapore is a part of.

The zoo, which is set in a rainforest environment, houses threatened turtles donated by the public at its Rescued Animal Centre, which are eventually transferred to habitats in the Zoo and Night Safari. The Zoo also identifies suitable homes in zoos overseas to which these tortoises and turtles can be sent for captive breeding and animal exchange. A shipment of 15 star tortoises destined for Lisbon Zoo, Portugal, is scheduled to leave end February 2008.