Zoo Knoxville and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), have been awarded a $50,000 grant to support the return of 1,000 critically endangered Radiated Tortoises to the wild after they were rescued from an illegal wildlife trafficking operation in Madagascar. 

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is funding priority conservation projects through the newly established SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction® granting program.  The reintroduction of radiated tortoise in Madagascar project was one of five programs chosen for funding.  

The process to return these tortoises to the wild is an involved one.  After an appropriate release site is determined, “soft” release pens must be built to hold the tortoises until they have acclimated and become established in their new territory; otherwise they could die or be recaptured by poachers trying to return to the area they originated from.  Radio transmitters will be used to track their locations as they expand into their new home, and a coordinator from the TSA will work with residents of the local community, who consider them sacred, to protect them from poachers.  

These tortoises were part of 10,976 rescued from a single residence in the city of Toliara on the southwestern coast of Madagascar in 2018, the largest global confiscation of tortoises ever.  Illegal trafficking, fueled by demand in Asia where they are used in traditional medicine or as pets and in their native Madagascar as a food delicacy for the more affluent classes, is wiping out entire populations of tortoises.  Tortoises have long life expectancies and are slow to mature to reproductive age, and the rate of poaching is far exceeding their reproductive abilities in addition to eradicating entire generations of turtles from the wild.  The populations of Radiated Tortoises have declined by 75-80% over the last 20 years and within the next 20 years, as many as one-third of the world‘s 300 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles may be gone due to poaching for the international black market.  

Zoo Knoxville and the Turtle Survival Alliance work in partnership to release tortoises confiscated from illegal trafficking back into the wild.  The Turtle Survival Alliance provides safe holding facilities to care for confiscated tortoises in southern Madagascar and advocates for local communities to be protectors of their native wildlife.  Zoo Knoxville’s herpetologists are recognized globally as experts in the care and breeding of Radiated Tortoises and the team travels to Madagascar to share their expertise and assist in times of crisis.  Zoo Knoxville also supports local advocacy efforts in Madagascar by providing donations and supplies for local schools.    

Zoo Knoxville is one of the top zoos in the world for the breeding and husbandry of Radiated Tortoises and works as part of a collaborative Species Survival Plan to maintain a healthy population in human care with zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).  Zoo Knoxville and the Turtle Survival Alliance are also founding members of the Radiated Tortoise SAFE program, which supports conservation efforts to restore populations of confiscated tortoises in Madagascar.  The Radiated Tortoise SAFE program is also supported by HawkWatch, Utah's Hogle Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, and Saint Louis Zoo.

“Zoo Knoxville, in partnership with other zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), is working as part of the largest conservation movement on the planet to respond to the global crisis being caused by illegal trafficking of wildlife.  We are internationally recognized for our expertise with Radiated Tortoises, and the funding provided by the AZA SAFE grant will allow us to apply that to restore and protect wild populations in Madagascar,” said Zoo Knoxville President and CEO Lisa New.  “Modern zoos are playing a critical role in using our expertise in animal care to support boots on the ground.”      

"The AZA SAFE grant will allow us to take the next big step in our ‘Confiscation to Reintroduction Strategy’ for Radiated Tortoises in Madagascar.  We have identified the sites, engaged the communities, and have 1000 tortoises soon to be cleared for release.  Now we have the funds to properly monitor them post-release.  Reintroduction is an intensive process, and with 25,000 tortoises in our captive centers, it is imperative that we develop a model for transitioning them back into the wild to restore depleted populations," said Rick Hudson, President,Turtle Survival Alliance.

Wildlife trafficking is ranked as the fourth most profitable transnational crime, only behind the drug trade, arms trade, and human trafficking.  It is estimated to generate billions of dollars each year for dangerous international networks.   Zoo Knoxville is a member of the the Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, a coalition of corporate and non-profit organizations working together to combat wildlife trafficking by raising public awareness, reducing consumer demand for illegal wildlife and wildlife products, and mobilizing companies in a variety of sectors to adopt best practices to stop wildlife trafficking.  Learn more about what can be done to take stop illegal trafficking and to support legislation to protect wildlife at https://wildlifetraffickingalliance.org/.