Tag: Turtle Conservancy

Wildlife trade threats: The importance of genetic data in saving an endangered species

In a new study, published in the scientific journal Nature Conservation, a research team analyses the genetic diversity of the endangered Four-eyed turtle, a species that has fallen victim to the growing wildlife trade in Vietnam. Having identified several distinct lineages in field-collected and local trade samples, the scientists warn that confiscated animals must not be released back into the wild before they have their origin traced back to the locality they have been captured.

In Southeast Asia, wildlife trade is running rampant, and Vietnam plays a key role in combating wildlife trafficking.

Since the country opened its market to China in the late 1980s, a huge amount of wildlife and its products has been transported across the border every year. Species have also been exported to other Asian countries, Europe and the USA. Furthermore, in recent years, Vietnam has also supported the transit of pangolin scales and other wildlife products from across Asia and even as far as Africa all the way to China and other destinations.

Additionally, in line with the expanding wealthy middle class, consumption of wildlife and its products has risen dramatically in Vietnam. As a consequence, the country takes on all three major roles in the international wildlife trade: export, transit and consumption.

Four-eyed turtle captured in Pu Mat National Park, central Vietnam
Credit: Asian Turtle Program
License: CC-BY 4.0

Freshwater turtles and tortoises make up a large part of the international trade between Vietnam and China and the domestic trade within Vietnam. Meanwhile, due to the increasing use of social networks, wildlife trade is shifting to online-based platforms, thereby further facilitating access to threatened species. Consequently, the Vietnamese pond turtle and the Swinhoe’s softshell turtle, for example, are already on the brink of extinction. Despite the repeated recent survey efforts of conservation biologists, no viable populations of their species have been found.

One of the effective approaches to the conservation of the most endangered species is to have confiscated animals released back into the wild, following the necessary treatment and quarantine, or transferring them to conservation breeding programmes. However, in either of the cases, it is necessary to know about the origin of the animals, because the release of individuals at sites they are not naturally adapted to, or at localities inhabited by populations of incompatible genetic makeup can have negative effects both on the gene pool and ecosystem health.

In the present research article, published in the peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal Nature Conservation, turtle conservationist and molecular biologist Dr. Minh D. Le of Vietnam National University (Hanoi) and the American Museum of Natural History (New York), in collaboration with the Cologne Zoo (Germany) and the Asian Turtle Program – Indo-Myanmar Conservation (Hanoi), the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (Hanoi) and Hanoi Procuratorate University (Hanoi), studies the geographic distribution of genetic diversity of the endangered Four-eyed turtle (Sacalia quadriocellata). The species, whose common name relates to the four eye-resembling spots, located on the back of its head, has traditionally been neglected by scientific and conservation efforts.

Having analysed field-collected and local trade samples along with confiscated animals, the researchers concluded that there is a significant number of genetically distinct lineages distributed in Vietnam and China, and that local trade samples could provide key data for resolving the genetic patterns of the species. They remind that Four-eyed turtles are getting more and more difficult to find in the wild.

Two four-eyed turtles captured in Pu Mat National Park, central Vietnam
Credit: Asian Turtle Program
License: CC-BY 4.0

On the other hand, the study highlights that confiscated animals are of various origin and, therefore, must not be released arbitrarily where they have been seized. Instead, the researchers recommend that captive programmes establish regular genetic screenings to determine the origin of confiscated turtles, so that the risk of crossing different lineages is eliminated. Such genetic screenings are of crucial importance to solve the current issues with biodiversity conservation in the country and the region.

Like other developing countries, Vietnam does not have any specific guidelines on how to release confiscated animals back into the wild yet. This and other similar studies emphasise the role of the government in the implementation of stricter laws and regulation,”

said Dr. Minh D. Le, lead author of the study.

This research once more underscores the IUCN’s One Plan Approach, which aims to develop integrative strategies to combine in situ and ex situ measures with expert groups, for the purposes of species conservation,

added Dr. Thomas Ziegler of the Cologne Zoo.

The research was funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER), the United States Agency for International Development, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and IDEAWILD.

Trapping four-eyed turtles in Pu Mat National Park, central Vietnam
Credit: Asian Turtle Program
License: CC-BY 4.0

Original source:

Le MD, McCormack TEM, Hoang HV, Duong HT, Nguyen TQ, Ziegler T, Nguyen HD, Ngo HT (2020) Threats from wildlife trade: The importance of genetic data in safeguarding the endangered Four-eyed Turtle (Sacalia quadriocellata). Nature Conservation 41: 91-111. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.41.54661

Contact: 

Dr Minh Duc Le, Vietnam National University
Email: le.duc.minh@hus.edu.vn

The third sister: Long-suspected third desert tortoise species proven to exist in Mexico

The huge variability among the desert tortoise populations of Mexico has finally been given an explanation after casting doubts for several decades. The puzzle was solved by an international team of researchers, led by Dr. Taylor Edwards, The University of Arizona, who teamed up to find out whether there has been a previously unknown third sister species all along. Moreover, unlike their predecessors, the team have managed to provide enough evidence to prove its existence. Their study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Distributed over a large area stretching from the Mojave and Colorado deserts in the United States to mainland Mexico, the tortoise populations were noticed to vary distinctly back in 1945, when scientists pointed out that the southern populations were suspiciously different. However, due to lack of enough samples and, therefore research, there was not enough evidence to prove that they were in fact two separate species.

Over the span of six years, the team of Dr. Taylor Edwards measured a multitude of tortoises during their field trips in Sonora and northern Sinaloa. This is how they concluded that the southern populations stand out with their significantly shorter tails and flatter carapaces. Unlike its sister species, whose shells are medium to dark brown with greenish hues, while the bodies are dark gray to brownish-gray, the new tortoise is dark tan to medium-brownish with an orange cast.

6124_Sister tortoise species img3

The new species inhabits exclusively thornscrub and tropical broadleaf forests, which is the reason why out of the three it is the one occupying the smallest geographic range, extending over approximately 24,000 km2.

Although there is not much information about their behaviour, it is presumed that the tortoises activity is strongly correlated with the monsoonal rains and the vegetation growth. The biologists have observed that the adults begin their seasonal activity in June, shortly before plant growth and the monsoons. Then, in December, they would cover underground in their dens, where they would spend the dry and cool winter season.

The new species, called Gopherus evgoodei, receives its name in honour of Eric V. Goode, a conservationist, naturalist, and founder of the Turtle Conservancy.

“He has contributed generously to the conservation of this species via the preservation of land in Mexico, and he actively pursues the conservation of turtles and tortoises on a global scale,” point out the researchers. “Eric sets an important precedent by complementing this taxonomic description with a tangible action that contributes to the conservation of the new species in its native habitat”.

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Original source:

Edwards T, Karl AE, Vaughn M, Rosen PC, Torres CM, Murphy RW (2016) The desert tortoise trichotomy: Mexico hosts a third, new sister-species of tortoise in the Gopherus morafkai-G. agassizii group. ZooKeys 562: 131-158. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.562.6124