Thousands of endangered tortoises rescued in Madagascar after sanctuary flooded

Staff members and volunteers rescuing some of the thousands of endangered tortoises that were washed away from the Lavavolo Tortoise Center in southern Madagascar during flooding due to Cyclone Dikeledi. (Lavavolo Tortoise Center via AP)

CAPE TOWN. South Africa — CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A community in southern Madagascar has pulled together to save thousands of critically endangered tortoises swept away from their sanctuary and left swimming for their lives in floods this month caused by a tropical cyclone.

The 12,000 radiated and spider tortoises that were housed at the Lavavolo Tortoise Center had been confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers but faced a new and unexpected ordeal when Cyclone Dikeledi hit the southern part of the Indian Ocean island in mid-January. Flood waters a metre (3.2 feet) high engulfed the sanctuary, and the tortoises — many of them mere whippersnappers in the tortoise world at about 25-50 years old — were carried away.

Sanctuary staff, members of the community and even police officers joined together in a rescue operation, wading through the water with large containers to collect the bewildered tortoises. Some rescuers converted damaged building structures into makeshift rafts for the tortoises to ride on as they moved around to find others.

Hery Razafimamonjiraibe, the Madagascar director for the Turtle Survival Alliance, which runs the sanctuary, said they were optimistic that they had saved more than 10,000 tortoises, although they still had to do an official count. That’s not easy, he said, as tortoises can move faster than you think when they want to and rarely cooperate.

The rescuers had recovered around 700 dead tortoises so far, which Razafimamonjiraibe said were trapped by rocks and debris in the floods.

“Fortunately, most of the tortoises were able to float,” Razafimamonjiraibe said. “Tortoises are actually very good swimmers,” he added. “You should see them.”

While most of the tortoises have been returned to the sanctuary, the floods were a blow to the center, which has lost much of its infrastructure, said the Turtle Survival Alliance.

Lavavolo Tortoise Center underwent a major renovation in 2018 when authorities seized a group of 10,000 radiated tortoises from wildlife traffickers and needed somewhere to keep them. More confiscated tortoises arrived later.

Most of the tortoises at Lavavolo are radiated tortoises, which are native to Madagascar. They generally grow to about 30 centimetres (11.8 inches) in length but are long-lived and can reach 100 years or more.

British explorer Captain James Cook is believed to have given a radiated tortoise to the Tongan royal family as a gift in 1777. The tortoise reportedly died in 1966 at the age of 188.

Radiated and spider tortoises are critically endangered in Madagascar because of habitat destruction and poaching. They are eaten, but also illegally trafficked to be sold as pets because of the striking yellow and black markings on their shells, Razafimamonjiraibe said.

There were once tens of millions of radiated tortoises in Madagascar, the Turtle Alliance said, but their numbers have been drastically reduced and they’ve disappeared from 65% of their natural habitat.

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Gerald Imray, The Associated Press