The
Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone
platynota) is one kind of tortoise that has been considering as a
critically endangered animal species. In these years, many Burmese star
tortoises were hunted and captured by smugglers, and then were sent to America,
Europe, Eastern Asia and other regions to fulfill the commercial demands in pet
stores and food markets.
The
Burmese star tortoise was declared functionally extinct in the early 2000s.
However, thanks to the people in the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and the
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the population of the Burmese star
tortoise started recovering. With the help of the Myanmar government, the
Turtle Survival Alliance and the Wildlife Conservation Society made a team and built
captive assurance colonies for the tortoises in the Minzontaung Wildlife
Sanctuary, Lawkananda Wildlife Sanctuary and Yadanabon Zoo. About 175
individuals of the Burmese star tortoise, most of which were confiscated from
illegal traders, were introduced to these colonies in the early 2000s. With the
help of the workers and volunteers in the sanctuaries, the innovation and
expansion of the colonies and the improvement of nursery and breeding
practices, the number of tortoises in the colonies increased into thousands in
the mid-2000s.
In
2013, the team started to released the tortoises to the protected zones around
the colonies. The team used a method called “soft release” to help reintroduce
the Burmese star tortoises back to their wild habitat. In “soft release”,
people built pens around the habitat, and the tortoises lived within the pens
for about 1 year. In this method, the tortoises could have enough time to acclimate
to the new environment, so the mortality of the population would be low. The
pens were removed after 1 year, and the tortoises were free to move to the
outer places. To track the individuals in the protected zone, people equipped
the individuals of tortoises with transmitters and watched their movements via
radio tracking. A team of workers and volunteers tracked tortoises 3 times per
month to ensure that no hunters or smugglers could capture the tortoises.
To
protect the Burmese star tortoise from being smuggled, the governments of Burma
and other countries in the Southeast Asia also cooperated in searching and
tracking illegal smugglers and hunters in the conservation areas. In December,
2015, two suspects were arrested in Thailand for the illegal trade of Burmese
star tortoises. Three Burmese star tortoises were found in one of the suspects’
house and were released into the wild in Burma.
Now
the population of the Burmese star tortoise has recovered rapidly. Today
thousands of tortoises are born in each year in the assurance colonies. And the
colonies now have about 14000 tortoises, 1000 of which have been successfully
released to the habitats. Nowadays people in the Turtle Survival Alliance, the
Wildlife Conservation Society and other conservation groups are still working
on reintroduction of the Burmese star tortoises and protecting them from being
hunted by smugglers.
Posted by Muchen Liu (2)
Before this I have never heard of the Burmese star tortoise. It's saddening to hear that they were declared functionally extinct, but on the other end its amazing to hear that a group of professionals was able to get the population number back up. I hope that other organizations like the Turtle Survival Alliance start up and help protect other organisms like they did so beautifully with these tortoises!
ReplyDelete- Danielle Bermingham
I've known about many animals being close to extinct but I have never heard about the Burmese star tortoise or that it was functionally extinct. I think that efforts like these are crucially to saving animals that have been hunted and preyed upon for years. These kinds of efforts should be made possible for any and every animal that is close to extinction!
ReplyDeletePosted by: Katarzyna Mosio
I'm glad that this story had a happy ending! It baffles me how people can trade animals like objects. I am thankful that there are wonderful organizations out there that can aide in the rehabilitation of different species. Also, the idea of a soft release is really interesting and smart. I had never realized how much work goes into getting animals back into their natural habitats. Is this a common strategy used in re-immersing animals back into the wild or was this just a brilliant plan created by these specific organizations?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jamie Downer
Soft release has become one of the main methods to reintroduce animals to wild. In soft release, the individuals of the species will be put into an area where people can still observe them, and, if necessary, provide them with food and medical care. Many of the individuals were cared in nursery before, so they need time to acclimate to the new environment. And soft release ensures that the released animals can be rescued if they cannot live normally in the wild. Another successful case of soft release was the conservation of Mississippi sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis).
DeleteReply by Muchen Liu (2)
Unfortunately, smugglers and poachers will always exist, but luckily there are many groups and people willing to put in years of hard work to counteract these situations and allow endangered species to be able to thrive again. I've always wondered about the process of how species are declared endangered. How do people keep track of the population numbers and know when it's at a point of being endangered?
ReplyDelete-Matt Murdoch
In general, one species will be defined as functionally extinct species if it: 1. disappears from fossil records or historic reports; 2. lose its role in the ecological system in its habitat because of its small population; 3. is no longer viable, or the breeding individuals are affected by genetic drift and inbreeding depression, and cannot survive or reproduce normally. I know that these years there are some species that have become functionally extinct, even though people tried to recover their populations. Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), a kind of dolphin that lived in fresh water, was declared functionally extinct in 2006. The number of wild baiji has reduced to 100 in 1995, and it was even impossible for people to find them and breed them.
DeleteReply by Muchen Liu (2)