Ploughshare tortoise

Scientific Name: Astrochelys yniphora Animal Type: Reptile Location: Madagascar Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

Profile

 

The ploughshare tortoise or angonoka has been hit by a series of disasters – not only has it suffered from burning of its habitat and hunting for food, but more recently the illegal pet trade has further reduced its numbers to fewer than 500 animals in the wild, and it is now the rarest tortoise in the world.

Ploughshare tortoises are large reptiles (males weigh up to 19 kg) and get their English name from the plough-shaped projection of the shell between their front legs. They eat mostly herbs, shrubs and grasses in their bamboo-scrub habitat, which consists of a mosaic of low shrubs, bamboo, savanna grasses, and open areas.

Ploughshare tortoises do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 15 years old. Females lay up to four relatively small clutches of 1-6 eggs in each breeding season.

The remaining small populations in their home around Baly Bay in northwestern Madagascar are isolated from each other and hard to protect from poaching. The angonoka is now at great risk of extinction within a couple of decades.

However, Durrell has been working to save these wonderful animals for many years. Our captive breeding station at Ampijoroa now has an established breeding programme for ploughshare tortoises, and we have already released animals that have been reared in captivity into the wild. The plan is to reintroduce a total of 44.

We have also helped to get the Baly Bay region designated as a national park and are working with local communities, involving them in the protection of the tortoises. Fires have been decreasing in frequency but the pet trade remains a major threat, and last year ploughshare tortoises were found in the possession of a suspected smuggler.

Then, in May 2009, four tortoises were stolen from Durrell’s quarantine area where they were being monitored before being released into the wild. This is a great blow and highlights the huge impact on conservation that illegal trade can have.
 

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