It is with great pleasure and not a little excitement that I am commending to BCG members the subject of the 2006 Conservation Appeal. For it is nothing less than to invite you to contribute to a scheme purposed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) at Jersey Zoo to relocate some captive-bred Plougshare Tortoises (Geochelone yniphora) or Angonokas as the Malagasy call them to a specially selected area of their native habitat in Madagascar. There it is confidently expected they will thrive and form a viable population.
The Angonoka or Ploughshare Tortoise of Madagascar (Geochelone yniphora)
Photograph: Hasina Bandri Amanampisoa.
HISTORY OF THE PLOUGHSHARE TORTOISE CONSERVATION PROGRAMME
By the middle of the last century, the Ploughshare Tortoise (so-called because of the ploughshare shaped extension of the plastron under the animal's neck) was very nearly extinct and was classified at Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red Book. It was to be found only around Baly Bay on the west coast of Madagascar - mostly within an area of 1500 square kilometres of forest and open savannah. Fires caused sometimes by lightning and at other times by a deliberate policy of farmers seeking to create more agricultural land burned out large areas of the tortoises' habitat, killing many tortoises in the process. Only isolated small pockets of Angonokas remained; because of their growing rarity they were also under threat from collectors for the international trade in rare species. Herpetologists began to estimate the number of years it would take before this most distinctive of tortoises would become extinct.
INTERVENTION BY THE DWCT
It was at this point that the DWCT stepped in and mounted an all-out campaign to save the Ploughshares for posterity. In 1986 they launched Project Angonoka as a collaborative effort with the Malagasy Government and the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The BCG became involved when in 1993 I appealed for funds to help pay for the cost of the captive breeding programme in Madagascar at which time there were just 17 adults and 62 hatchlings in captivity together with a small number in the wild. I am pleased to record that we raised more than £5000 to fund one of the Angonoka enclosures at Ampijoroa. DWCT had collected the 17 adults either from the wild or had been given them after their confiscation from local gardens (it was illegal to keep them as pets or to trade in them ) and had been breeding them in captivity for about 6 years. The long-term aim was to release some captive bred Angonokas back into the wild when they were old enough as juveniles to have a reasonable chance of survival. This had never been attempted before but by dint of some very clever research and husbandry by the staff of DWCT, the scheme took off in the 1990s and achieved great success. The name of Don Reid will always be associated with this project and he was awarded the BCG Kay Gray Memorial Prize for his work with the Ploughshare Tortoises in 1994. Then in the midst of success came a terrible setback in 1999 when about half the hatchlings were stolen by a poacher during one awful night. Security measures had been in place but unfortunately they were just not good enough. However many of the stolen Angonokas have since been recovered and stricter guarding was enforced. By December 2004 there were 224 captive-bred juveniles aged about 8 or 9 and it was time to think about fulfilling the original aim of releasing some of these tortoises back into the wild.
PREPARATION FOR THE RELEASE OF THE CAPTIVE-BRED PLOUGHSHARE TORTOISES.
A. SECURITY.
First of all it is vitally important that wherever the tortoises are set free they must be safe. A start was made in 1998 when the Baly Bay area of NW Madagascar was declared by the Malagasy Government to be a National Park. In that park there is now a permanent presence of 8 full-time guards and assisting them a network of 40 village "para-rangers" who are on the Look-out for possible poachers or the start of forest fires. These guards and rangers work closely with the Malagasy police and gendarmes.
B. FEASIBILITY OF THE PROJECT.
It was also essential that a trial release should take place to ensure the feasibility of the release scheme. Accordingly in 1998 some juveniles were set free and monitored very closely in what was considered to be a suitable and safe area. This trial has been a complete success - the growth rate of these tortoises has been equal to those remaining in captivity and better than those who have always lived in the wild. There have been no deaths or injuries, no attempt at poaching and no serious fires. So the DWCT now feels confident enough to plan the release of a large number of Ploughshare Tortoises currently being cared for in captivity.
THE AIM OF THE PLOUGHSARE RELEASE PROJECT
The aims of the DWCT release project can be summarised briefly as follows:
- To increase the number of self-sustaining populations in suitable areas of Madagascar,
- To re-establish a wild, free-ranging population in an area where this tortoise has become extinct;
- To ensure that the Malagasy National Park Authority and the local community can, by being properly trained, take care of these tortoises.
To do this, some 50 to 80 Angonoka juveniles will be released over a 4-5 year period during which time their adaptation to living in the wild will be very closely monitored particularly for health, growth rates etc etc and they will carry small transmitters to accurately record their position. And by the time you read this, the releases should have already started.
THE BCG INVOLVEMENT
I am going to reserve details of the release procedure for another article in the next issue of the Newsletter. However, I want to tell you that when I visited Jersey Zoo earlier this year I was asked if the BCG would support this project as it was going to cost over £60,000 over the next 4 or 5 years. I was given thorough details of the planning. These have been considered by your Committee and a number of questions were put to the DWCT about such items as security, genetic mix of the tortoises and the overall costing. Answers from the DWCT were forthcoming at great length and the result is that the BCG is going to support two major elements of the project. Firstly, we shall pay for the 6 release and quarantine enclosures (£2,600) and for the provision of as many transmitters as we can afford to purchase with the monies raised (the maximum would be a total of 40 costing £6,800). I would like to think that we could raise the total of £9,400 necessary to meet both targets - but that will depend on your generosity.
A young Angonoka Tortoise - Photo: Hasina Randriamanam Pisoa
Two male Angonoka's in combat - Photo: Dr. Joanna Durbin, DWCT representative in Madagascar
Angonoka juveniles - Photos: Dr. Joanna Durbin, DWCT representative in Madagascar
CONCLUSION
Of all the appeals I have made over the past 15 years this is one of the most exciting I have had the pleasure of putting before you. What I am asking you to support is the culmination of a project to save the Ploughshare Tortoise from extinction - something we supported at the outset 12 years ago. To quote very roughly from a famous wartime leader - please give us the money so that we can help finish the job!
You can make a donation when you renew your membership by adding the amount you wish to donate to the form or you can send a separate donation by cheque.
Please make the cheque out to the British Chelonia Group, specifying that you want the money to go to the 2006 Conservation Appeal and send this to the:
Membership Secretary BCG,
P.O.Box 1460
Bedworth,
CV12 9ZR.
And thank you on behalf of the Angonoka Tortoises.
BOB LANGTON, CONSERVATION OFFICER
email: Conservation Officer
Article from Newsletter 171
CONSERVATION CORNER: THE RELEASE OF THE ANGONOKAS
I have recently received from Richard Lewis, who is the Conservation Coordinator for the Madagascar Programme of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, a description of the transporting and release of the captive-bred Angonokas (Ploughshare Tortoises), Geochelone yniphora - from their home at Ampijoroa to their new permanent home in the forests near Baly Bay in December 2005. Since these precious tortoises are the subject of this year's Conservation Appeal, I thought our members would like to share this news:
THE RELEASE HAS BEGUN: Richard Lewis - Antananarivo - 16th December 2005
"The years of work of Durrell Wildlife that began in the 80's when the Malagasy Government invited us to develop a captive -breeding project for the Ploughshare Tortoise have reached another major milestone. The reintroduction into the wild programme began last Wednesday (the 7th) when 20 juvenile Ploughshares were transferred from Ampijoroa to their new home 200 km away (as the Madagascar teal flies) in the bamboo forest at Beaboaly, inside the Baly Bay National Park. The previous week had seen Javier Lopez, Head of FWCT Veterinary Services, working at Ampij oroa doing their final health checks. By Sunday he had finished the work and given the final OK; they were healthy to go.
Planes and cars began to move into place to get ready for the transfer. A team of us from Durrell left on the Tuesday (including Dr Mark Price, Chief Executive Officer DWCT, who was here for the release) to do the 12 hour drive to Soalala, the town by Baly Bay. That meant leaving Ampijoroa at 4am to get to Mahajanga, get the ferry across the river and then drive all day, arriving at 8pm that night. It was touch and go as a severe depression had settled around Mahajanga and the road was a nightmare of mud and floods.
On the Wednesday morning the sun was shining brightly and all was well. Javier had been left back in Ampijoroa to travel with the tortoises by plane. We waited all day at Soalala airport for the animals to arrive. Unbeknown to us the depression was still sitting over the Mahajanga area and it made flying conditions difficult. Bob, the pilot, made one run in the morning to the park but was unable to land at Ampijoroa. But finally in mid-aftemoon he was able to leave Mahajanga and go and pick up Javier and the tortoises. They were all quickly loaded aboard the aircraft and it flew directly to Soalala. There wasn't time for chit-chat our end. We got the tortoises down to the ferry to the release site by Baly village. We got to the village at dusk to a tumultuous welcome from the whole of the village who led us to a special palm-thatched shelter decked out in greenery and flower chains. There followed an evening of speeches, dinner and finally an all-night dance (for those with stamina!). After a night sleeping on the beach, we and the tortoises finally set off for the forest. At the edge of the forest we have built a small field station. Here we and the villagers gathered. One of the elders went into a trance and spoke to us under possession as King Ndranokosoa, the last king of the region in the 19th century; he accepted our work and the efforts being made to save the tortoises. A prayer was then said to ensure the goodwill of the king and the ancestors. Then finally the 20 tortoises were brought into the forest and in groups of 5 put in the outdoor enclosures. This is where they will stay for the next month while they begin to "fix home" on the area. They will receive supplement food and water for this month; then at the beginning of January 2006 the fencing will be removed and they will begin their new life as wild tortoises. These 20 animals represent the first group of 80 Angonokas that we intend to release over the next 4 years to establish a new tortoise population in the wild.
One thing that did strike me during the two days of the release was that we only achieved it thanks to the fantastic work by all the Durrell Team, both at Tana, Ampijoroa and in the field. Also thanks to all our partners, the various Government services, the park and of course the villagers. The latter will now be one of the main managers, guardians of this new population. Their close involvement represents a major step forward in Madagascar towards the goal of empowering people to manage their resources. It also made me realise that this achievement has been built on all the people (including the British Chelonia Group) who have over 20 years helped to make this project into the success it is today. It has really been a team effort from the whole organisation to save the Ploughshare Tortoise.
27th January 2006. Last week I took our new MSc student (Henri Rakitosalama of the Zoology Dept., Antananarive University) to the release site. After a day of gluing on radios and generally checking on all the animals, we did the complete release last Sunday 22nd January. All has gone well so far. The tortoises are already moving all around Beaboaly. It's going to be a challenge to keep track of 20 animals hidden in impenetrable bamboo!
An Angonnoka in its new home.
Fixing a transmitter
Photograph Richard Lewis
10th March 2006. I have just got back from the release site and all is going well. The 20 release tortoises are establishing home ranges and acting as they should. We have had a few glitches with the radios when the heavy rains managed to unstick some of our transmitters and radios fell off 3 animals. That meant some days crawling through the bamboo to find the animals and stick the radios back on them. We now have a system of 2 coats of glue which we hope will be enough to keep the rain out. Water gets between the radio and the shell and pushes the epoxy resin off the shell. So we have got to get a really tight seal between the epoxy and the shell. Baly Bay may be incredibly dry for most of the year, but when it rains, it pours with a vengeance!"
NOTE: The above will give an idea of the tremendous efforts that are being made to save the critically endangered Angonoka Tortoise. The BCG is proud to be associated with the DWCT in this enterprise. If you wish to help us reach our goal of raising £9400 this year for the cost of all the radios and enclosures needed over the 4 year programme, please join our 2006 appeal.
Article from Newsletter 174
2006 CONSERVATION APPEAL
Good News! As at the beginning of November, the B.C.G. Appeal on behalf of the cost of relocating the captive-bred Angonokas to their new home in Madagascar had reached the magnificent figure of £8382. Thank you for all your donations both large and small. In 2007 I will give you an update on how these precious tortoises are faring in their new home.