*[Enwl-eng] URGENT! Tortoises in Madagascar are being HIDEOUSLY INJURED, all for the exotic pet trade!
enwl
enwl at enw.net.ru
Thu Aug 11 03:34:32 MSK 2022
URGENT! Tortoises in Madagascar are being HIDEOUSLY INJURED, all for the
exotic pet trade!
wild.
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Help save 26,000 endangered tortoises in
Madagascar from the illegal pet and food trade. Please, help us care for and
release them back to the wild.
Please help by making a donation now!
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Dear Vladimir,
You may recall that last year, thanks to your
support, we worked with our Madagascan partner, Turtle Survival Alliance
(TSA), to feed and care for 800 radiated tortoises rescued from smugglers.
These critically endangered creatures, as well as many other tortoise
subspecies, are rapidly heading towards extinction due to insatiable demand
for their meat and the illegal pet trade.
Today, we must ask for your help again - TSA
is running out of resources to maintain its rapidly filling rehabilitation
centers.
Please help by making a donation now!
A few weeks ago, our team visited TSA and saw
firsthand the extent of the illegal wildlife trade in Madagascar and the
sheer volume of vulnerable creatures affected by it. Fortunately, TSA - in
partnership with local communities - does magnificent work in seizing stolen
tortoises and rehabilitating them, but the number of animals in its care is
increasing almost daily. TSA has now saved 26,000 tortoises and is running
out of space and food for these vulnerable creatures; without the help of
caring people like you, it cannot continue its vital work.
The harsh reality of the illegal wildlife
trade is that animals are not merely killed, but cruelly tortured to death.
Species are being wiped out in the most brutal
ways.
In Madagascar, tortoises are captured in their
thousands. After being stolen from the wild, they are usually bound with
duct tape, stored in bags, and left, sometimes for months at a time, in the
wilderness until they can be smuggled.
Vladimir, they must endure living in their own
urine and feces and are often starved and left without water for long
periods of time. Many are terribly mistreated and suffer cracked and broken
shells. Those who do not die of these injuries and neglect are ultimately
sold as pets or consumed for unfounded “medicinal” purposes.
TSA works closely with local communities in
Madagascar to intercept smugglers and rescue wildlife. Local people are
empowered by a centuries-old, community-based law called Lilintane I Androy,
which supports a long-held cultural tradition of protecting tortoises. Local
people can apply this law when they encounter poachers, which enables the
wildlife to be confiscated and poachers to be arrested and prosecuted.
Animal Survival International campaigner, Roxy
de Saint Pern, talks with a local tribesman who helps protect and care for
the radiated tortoises rescued by the TSA.
TSA takes confiscated tortoises to its centers
across Madagascar, where they are expertly cared for. Often, they require
critical, life-saving care. They are rehabilitated in a secure and
appropriate natural habitat - mostly large, protected forested areas - until
they are strong enough to be released back into the wild. Ensuring that they
can be safely released is of paramount importance.
TSA cares for over 26,000 rescued tortoises in
seven rehabilitation centers across Madagascar. Each of these rescued
creatures is critical to the species' survival and requires dedicated care
and support - but TSA is fast running out of resources to sustain all its
rescued wildlife. In a symbiotic exchange, local farmers provide food for
the tortoises, and TSA in turn helps to provide water and critical
infrastructure to the villages.
TSA is facing serious challenges. Ironically,
because of the “success” of these local partnerships, more and more
tortoises are being saved from the illegal trade, which means that TSA’s
rehabilitation centers are filling rapidly.
Two of their largest rehabilitation and
soft-release centers - Tortoise Conservation Center (TCC) and Lava Volo
Center (LVC) in forested habitats in the south - are both as much as 50%
over capacity. Community farmers are struggling to provide sufficient food
for the tortoises due to their outdated farming methods and extreme food
scarcity during Madagascar’s dry season which can last up to SIX MONTHS.
Global warming has only made these dry periods
more intense, and local farmers have not yet adapted their agricultural
methods to be resilient to the accelerating climate crisis.
The result is that TSA rehabilitation centers
are struggling to feed and shelter all the animals they save.
Of these rescued tortoises, some subspecies
are so close to extinction that their exact type and location cannot be
named for fear of the center being targeted by wildlife criminals.
We are determined to ensure that TSA has a
continual, secure source of food for rescued wildlife. With your support,
Vladimir, as a caring custodian of this planet and its wildlife, that is
what we will do.
Our partners are extremely proactive and are
constantly finding new ways to meet the needs of the wildlife in their care,
but they cannot do it alone. If we can raise $15,000 (£12,400), we can rush
funds for critically needed food to TSA to sustain its rescued tortoises for
the next six months. Your urgent donation will also support TSA’s long-term
program which educates local farmers on more sustainable farming practices.
These updated farming practices will help farmers maximize their harvests
and create a secure, year-round supply of food for tortoises.
Please help by making a donation now!
In the near future, we would also like to help
TSA expand its infrastructure at TCC, one of its largest soft-release sites.
Vladimir, with your help, we can support this extremely successful program
so that TSA does not have to turn away any vulnerable wildlife. We MUST
support successful programs like this, because the more we support them, the
more animals they can save, the more poachers they can stop and the better
the chances the tortoises have to survive.
Please help by making a donation now!
Saving animals and the planet,
Campaigner
Animal Survival International
P.S. Vladimir, during our visit, we were shown
a campsite where hundreds of tortoises had been butchered for human
consumption. Thanks to TSA’s effective partnerships on the ground, the team
was informed and was able to alert local police. One of the poachers (so
far) was caught and imprisoned, and is awaiting trial, and 880 pounds (440
kilograms) of meat was confiscated and burned - this equates to around 500
to 1,000 butchered tortoises - a loss the species can ill afford. Since this
sting operation, poachers have been driven out of the village entirely. This
is the incredibly worthy work that TSA does, Vladimir, and we MUST continue
to support it if we are to save as many tortoises as we possibly can AND
bring poachers and smugglers to book.
Please help by making a donation now!
Image credits: Banner, images 1 & 2: Turtle
Survival Alliance
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Animal Survival International UK
9 Bonhill Street
London, London EC2A 4DJ
United Kingdom
Animal Survival International US
4957 Cross Pointe Drive
Oldsmar, FL 34677
USA
From: Animal Survival International
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2022 7:37 PM
Subject: URGENT! Tortoises in Madagascar are
being HIDEOUSLY INJURED, all for the exotic pet trade!
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