Turtles in Trouble: The World's 25+ Most Endangered - Wildlife ...

Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011Cover Photos: Staring Extinction in the FaceTop Left: The last living Pinta or Abingdon Island Giant Tortoise, Lonesome George, Chelonoidis abingdonii, from theGalápagos Islands, Ecuador; this iconic species faces certain extinction unless captive reproduction with some partiallyhybrid female can be accomplished. Photo by Anders G.J. Rhodin.Top Right: The last known wild Red River or Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle, Rafetus swinhoei, a male near Hanoi, Vietnam;one of only four known living animals, of which only one is a female. A pair in a captive breeding program inChina offers the last hope for the survival of this species. Photo by Tim McCormack.Bottom Left: One of the very last known Northern River Terrapins, Batagur baska, a male in breeding color, from the Sunderbans,Bangladesh; functionally extinct in the wild, with just a few hundred animals remaining, this one was savedfrom a local consumption market in order to be placed into a breeding colony. Photo by Rupali Ghosh.Bottom Center: One of the very last known Yellow-headed Box Turtles, Cuora aurocapitata, from China, functionally extinctin the wild, with probably less than 150 animals left in the wild and disappearing rapidly; a few animals are beingbred on commercial farms in China and a few captive breeding centers. Photo by Gerald Kuchling.Bottom Right: One of the less than approximately 200 remaining wild adult Ploughshare Tortoises or Angonokas, Astrochelysyniphora, in Baly Bay National Park, Madagascar; the species faces certain extinction in the wild unless rampantpoaching and illegal international trade of the remaining population can be halted. Photo by Anders G.J. Rhodin.Citation:TURTLE CONSERVATION COALITION [RHODIN, A.G.J., WALDE, A.D., HORNE, B.D., VAN DIJK, P.P., BLANCK, T., AND HUDSON, R.(EDS.)]. 2011. Turtles in Trouble: The World’s 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011. Lunenburg,MA: IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance,Turtle Conservancy, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, andSan Diego Zoo Global, 54 pp.Printed by MTC Printing, Inc., Nashua St., Leominster, MA, 01453 USA. Published February 2011.Hardcopy available from IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group,c/o Chelonian Research Foundation, 168 Goodrich St., Lunenburg, MA, 01462 USA.Digital pdf copy available for download at www.iucn-tftsg.org/trouble/.Hardcopy and digital pdf copy also available from other Turtle Conservation Coalition participants:Turtle Conservation Fund (www.turtleconservationfund.org) and Turtle Survival Alliance (www.turtlesurvival.org).– 2 –