Saving Turtles by Taking Them Off the Menu

The Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) has listed the 25 most endangered turtles to highlight the survival crisis facing tortoises and freshwater turtles and to unveil a global plan to prevent further extinctions. Two hundred of the world's
300 remaining species are threatened and require conservation action. Many of the critically endangered species are at great risk of going extinct within the next 20 years.

The TCF intends to raise $5,6 million to cover a five-year "Global Action Plan" that includes captive breeding (using trade-confiscated turtles), additional field research, development of country support for trade monitoring, illegal trade confiscations, establishment of rescue centers, sustainable harvest programs, ecologically sound turtle farming (for commercial purposes to lessen pressures on wild populations), relocation and return to countries of origin, public outreach and educational programs, trade regulation enforcement, and identification and establishment of protected areas that take tortoises and freshwater turtles into consideration.

Turtles are increasingly threatened by human exploitation and development-related pressures. Of particular concern is the unrelenting demand from the Asian food and traditional medicine market. Tons of live turtles are imported each day to southern China from the Southeast Asia region, with more than 10 million individuals traded per year, according to the TCF.

In many areas, other threats to turtles include development, habitat destruction and fragmentation, as well as unregulated pet trade collection. Turtles are also affected by human-caused threats such as invasive alien species, chemical and hormonal pollution, gradual global warming, and various illnesses due to introduced pathogens.

Twenty-one of the species occur in 11 of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots, areas which house the greatest number of species. Critical to the turtles' survival, the TCF statement said, will be protection of the hotspots where small populations still remain: Indo-Burma, Sundaland, the Philippines, Wallacea, Succulent Karoo, Cape Floristic Region, Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands, Mediterranean Basin, Southwestern Australia, Choco-Darien-Western Ecuador, and Mesoamerica.

National Geographic News. 2003

Cromo the Iberian Lynx – His Species' Last Hope?

At 8 kilograms, Cromo, an 8-month-old Iberian lynx captured in the wild, hardly looks bigger than a house cat. But he bears a weighty responsibility.

Cromo is the only male Iberian lynx in captivity. Cromo's species faces extinction, authorities say, and more births are crucial. The Iberian lynx is sometimes called the European tiger because of its spots and hunting prowess. Its range once extended to southern France. Now the Iberian lynx lives only in isolated pockets of Portugal and southern Spain.

A 1998 survey reported 1,200 Iberian lynx in the wild; a 2002 survey, 300. Any animal with a population less than 1,000 usually is considered severely endangered.

Starvation, poaching for the fur and road kills are the Iberian lynx's leading cause of death. Development, including road building, has long shrunk the habitat. Last year, wildfires in Portugal consumed 243,000 hectares, driving out the lynx and its prey. The wild rabbit, the lynx's favorite food, is also threatened by imported diseases and forest fires.

At the Jerez Zoo zoologists and veterinarians are developing a lynx-breeding program. They are trying to acquire 12 healthy cats – the minimum necessary for the breeding program. So far, they have four females and Cromo. They are cautious but hopeful that if they can get all the lynxes they need, they will be able to add to the population in the wild. With so few lynx in the wild, one mission of the breeding center is to boost the cat's genetic stock.

A lynx-conservation education campaign is under way as well. Awareness of the lynx's plight by communities is key to the cat's survival. With so few lynx around, one road kill or snare catch can imperil the future of a group of the cats in an area.

Conservationists also are lobbying Spanish and Portuguese governments to stop building roads in lynx territories, to crack down on poachers, and to help replenish wild rabbit populations and to help establish reserves. Otherwise the only remaining cats will be in captivity.

Europe has long been known for chastising developing countries for not protecting their endangered big cats (like the tiger and jaguar). Wouldn't it be ironic if a big cat went extinct right on our doorstep? That is exactly what is going to happen if more isn't done to save the Iberian lynx.

Zoltan Istvan. National Geographic Channel. 2003

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