Reflecting on 2023: a truly monumental year for WFFT, marked by amazing collaborations and our largest rescue effort yet. There is much to do in 2024, and we have big plans to create a better world for injured, exploited, and abused wildlife in Thailand.
Endangered Elongated Tortoises Rescued
Last week three endangered elongated Tortoise tortoises (Indotestudo elongata) were brought into the WFFT Wildlife Rescue by a concerned local who had ‘found’ them close to his home in area populated by many people, he feared that someone would catch them and eat them. All three little tortoises seem in good health. For now these little guys are safe and are currently settling into life at WFFT meeting other rescued and displaced elongated tortoises in a large open field enclosure. In the future we hope to release these guys back to the wild in a protected area far away from the pressures of man.
The elongated Tortoise is listed as Endangered (EN) by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is under extreme pressure across most of its range, largely due to it being widely harvested and sold on the Asian food markets. Disregard for international conservation laws are apparent, with the trade in tortoises brisk, highly developed, and probably ignored by many border guards, customs officials, and airline personnel. Like many other tortoise species, the elongated tortoise is also sold as part of the pet trade. It is also threatened by the habitat destruction, fragmentation and loss, that accompanies human commercial and residential expansion. This species has undergone severe population declines throughout its range. Recommended conservation measures include greater enforcement of wildlife protection laws, conservation breeding and monitored releases of tortoises, and continued research.
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