Help save 26,000 endangered tortoises in Madagascar from the illegal pet and food trade. Please, help us care for and release them back to the wild. |
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Dear,
You may recall that last year, thanks to your support, we worked with our Madagascan partner, Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), to feed and care for 800 radiated tortoises rescued from smugglers. These critically endangered creatures, as well as many other tortoise subspecies, are rapidly heading towards extinction due to insatiable demand for their meat and the illegal pet trade. |
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Today, we must ask for your help again - TSA is running out of resources to maintain its rapidly filling rehabilitation centers. |
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A few weeks ago, our team visited TSA and saw firsthand the extent of the illegal wildlife trade in Madagascar and the sheer volume of vulnerable creatures affected by it. Fortunately, TSA - in partnership with local communities - does magnificent work in seizing stolen tortoises and rehabilitating them, but the number of animals in its care is increasing almost daily. TSA has now saved 26,000 tortoises and is running out of space and food for these vulnerable creatures; without the help of caring people like you, it cannot continue its vital work. |
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The harsh reality of the illegal wildlife trade is that animals are not merely killed, but cruelly tortured to death. |
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Species are being wiped out in the most brutal ways. |
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In Madagascar, tortoises are captured in their thousands. After being stolen from the wild, they are usually bound with duct tape, stored in bags, and left, sometimes for months at a time, in the wilderness until they can be smuggled.
They must endure living in their own urine and feces and are often starved and left without water for long periods of time. Many are terribly mistreated and suffer cracked and broken shells. Those who do not die of these injuries and neglect are ultimately sold as pets or consumed for unfounded “medicinal” purposes.
TSA works closely with local communities in Madagascar to intercept smugglers and rescue wildlife. Local people are empowered by a centuries-old, community-based law called Lilintane I Androy, which supports a long-held cultural tradition of protecting tortoises. Local people can apply this law when they encounter poachers, which enables the wildlife to be confiscated and poachers to be arrested and prosecuted. |
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 | | Animal Survival International campaigner, Roxy de Saint Pern, talks with a local tribesman who helps protect and care for the radiated tortoises rescued by the TSA. |
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TSA takes confiscated tortoises to its centers across Madagascar, where they are expertly cared for. Often, they require critical, life-saving care. They are rehabilitated in a secure and appropriate natural habitat - mostly large, protected forested areas - until they are strong enough to be released back into the wild. Ensuring that they can be safely released is of paramount importance.
TSA cares for over 26,000 rescued tortoises in seven rehabilitation centers across Madagascar. Each of these rescued creatures is critical to the species' survival and requires dedicated care and support - but TSA is fast running out of resources to sustain all its rescued wildlife. In a symbiotic exchange, local farmers provide food for the tortoises, and TSA in turn helps to provide water and critical infrastructure to the villages. |
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TSA is facing serious challenges. Ironically, because of the “success” of these local partnerships, more and more tortoises are being saved from the illegal trade, which means that TSA’s rehabilitation centers are filling rapidly.
Two of their largest rehabilitation and soft-release centers - Tortoise Conservation Center (TCC) and Lava Volo Center (LVC) in forested habitats in the south - are both as much as 50% over capacity. Community farmers are struggling to provide sufficient food for the tortoises due to their outdated farming methods and extreme food scarcity during Madagascar’s dry season which can last up to SIX MONTHS.
Global warming has only made these dry periods more intense, and local farmers have not yet adapted their agricultural methods to be resilient to the accelerating climate crisis. |
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The result is that TSA rehabilitation centers are struggling to feed and shelter all the animals they save. |
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Of these rescued tortoises, some subspecies are so close to extinction that their exact type and location cannot be named for fear of the center being targeted by wildlife criminals.
We are determined to ensure that TSA has a continual, secure source of food for rescued wildlife. With your support, as a caring custodian of this planet and its wildlife, that is what we will do.
Our partners are extremely proactive and are constantly finding new ways to meet the needs of the wildlife in their care, but they cannot do it alone. If we can raise $15,000 (£12,400), we can rush funds for critically needed food to TSA to sustain its rescued tortoises for the next six months. Your urgent donation will also support TSA’s long-term program which educates local farmers on more sustainable farming practices. These updated farming practices will help farmers maximize their harvests and create a secure, year-round supply of food for tortoises. |
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In the near future, we would also like to help TSA expand its infrastructure at TCC, one of its largest soft-release sites. Luc, with your help, we can support this extremely successful program so that TSA does not have to turn away any vulnerable wildlife. We MUST support successful programs like this, because the more we support them, the more animals they can save, the more poachers they can stop and the better the chances the tortoises have to survive. |
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Saving animals and the planet, 
Campaigner
Animal Survival International |
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P.S. During our visit, we were shown a campsite where hundreds of tortoises had been butchered for human consumption. Thanks to TSA’s effective partnerships on the ground, the team was informed and was able to alert local police. One of the poachers (so far) was caught and imprisoned, and is awaiting trial, and 880 pounds (440 kilograms) of meat was confiscated and burned - this equates to around 500 to 1,000 butchered tortoises - a loss the species can ill afford. Since this sting operation, poachers have been driven out of the village entirely. This is the incredibly worthy work that TSA does, and we MUST continue to support it if we are to save as many tortoises as we possibly can AND bring poachers and smugglers to book. |
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Image credits: Banner, images 1 & 2: Turtle Survival Alliance |
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