Conservation activities in captivity
At a specially designed facility in Southern California, the BCC maintains the threatened and endangered turtles and tortoises that the New York Zoological Society/Wildlife Conservation Society once bred and raised on St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia.
The following species are managed and bred to maintain appropriate genetic diversity.
Species Survival Plan Species:
- Radiated Tortoise, Astrochelys radiata
- Northern Isabela Galapagos Tortoise, Geochelone nigra becki
- Central Isabela Galapagos Tortoise, Geochelone nigra microphyes
- Burmese Star Tortoise, Geochelone platynota
Population Management Plan Studbook species:
- Flat-tailed Tortoise, Pyxis planicauda
- Spider Tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides
BCC actively participates in the Association for Zoos and Aquariums' Taxon Advisory Groups and Species Survival Plans, and the Association's Wildlife Conservation and Management Committee's Population Management Plans for several species. BCC also is a partner in the Turtle Survival Alliance and consults with its members regarding successful breeding practices, and transfer of animals.
Conservation in the Field
BCC has committed a minimum of $70,000 for the conservation of the Ploughshare Tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora), one of the most endangered tortoises in the world. The money is to be used for
the following proposed conservation activities:
1. Add a quarantine facility at Ampijoroa.
2. Photograph (carapace and plastron) every tortoise, both wild and captive, and create an identification database. This is important so that we can clearly identify confiscated animals.
3. Insert pit tags, internal identification code devices, in every wild and captive individual.
4. Create an additional indelible mark to the marginals of each individual, a larger mark than the current filing system. This would make a larger brand on the marginals and create a redundancy of
the identification of animals, ideally to discourage poachers.
5. Implement a form of 'tattoo' on the plastron of every wild and captive tortoise, including young animals.
6. Fund transect studies to get an accurate count of the wild populations.
7. Fund an additional boat to access and protect A. yniphora habitat more effectively.
8. Fund security guards in situ.
9. Develop a more expeditious system to assess the health status of confiscated animals before they are released into the wild or added to existing captive colonies.
10. Setup an ex situ breeding program in response to the alarming decline in the wild and the reality that Ampijoroa could have another theft.
Click here to donate towards this project.
Mexico – Bolson Tortoise
The BCC, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation and the Desert Tortoise Council currently are working
toward purchasing a 17,000 acre parcel of land in Durango, Mexico to protect the core habitat for the endangered Bolson Tortoise, Gopherus flavomarginatus. The project is lead by Myles Traphagen, with additional scientific support from Ross Kiester, and Jim Juvik. The purchase of this 17,000 acre property will substantially increase the protected habitat for the tortoise. Surveys have indicated that this property likely contains the greatest known densities of the tortoise, possibly representing as much as 25 to 50% of the remaining total population.
Click here to donate towards this project.
California – Pacific Pond Turtle
BCC is enhancing habitat for the Pacific Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata), which is threatened throughout much of its range, by constructing permanent ponds on a 165 acre property under conservation easement in Sonoma County. Also, BCC is initiating discussions with local authorities to develop a proposal to census the turtle in the Los Padres National Forest adjacent to the Center.
