The illegal pet trade is driving Madagascar's ploughshare tortoise to extinction
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The illegal pet trade is driving Madagascar's
ploughshare tortoise to extinction
ANGELO R. MANDIMBIHASINA, LANCE G. WOOLAVER, LIANNE E. CONCANNON
E. J. MILNER-GULLAND, RICHARD E. LEWIS, ANDREW M.R. TERRY
N I A R A H A F I L A Z A H A , L Y D I A L . R A B E T A F I K A and R I C H A R D P . Y O U N G
Abstract The illegal wildlife trade is driving declines in Introduction
populations of a number of large, charismatic animal
species but also many lesser known and restricted-range
species, some of which are now facing extinction as a
I llegal wildlife trade involves the collection, transporta-
tion, and distribution of living or dead animals, animal
parts and derivatives, both domestically and internationally,
result. The ploughshare tortoise Astrochelys yniphora,
in contravention of foreign and domestic laws and treaties
endemic to the Baly Bay National Park of north-western
(Wyler & Sheikh, ). It is a major and growing challenge
Madagascar, is affected by poaching for the international
for conservation. Although the global volume of illegal wild-
illegal pet trade. To quantify this, we estimated population
life trade is difficult to quantify (Rosen & Smith, ), its
trends during –, using distance sampling sur-
value is estimated at USD – billion per annum
veys along line transects, and recorded national and
(Lawson & Vines, ). Illegal trade is pushing many high-
international confiscations of trafficked tortoises for
profile species such as the tiger Panthera tigris, African
–. The results suggest the ploughshare tortoise
elephant Loxodonta africana, and white and black rhinocer-
population declined . % during this period, to c.
oses Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum, towards
adults and subadults in –. Prior to very
extinction (Bennett, ; Biggs et al., ; Underwood
few tortoises were seized either in Madagascar or inter-
et al., ; TRAFFIC, ).
nationally but confiscations increased sharply from .
Illegal trade also affects a wide range of lesser-known spe-
Since poaching has intensified, with field reports sug-
cies (Rosen & Smith, ) that often receive little inter-
gesting that two of the four subpopulations are extinct,
national attention. Reptiles, and chelonians in particular,
leaving an unknown but almost certainly perilously low
are trafficked in large numbers, accounting for and
number of adult tortoises in the wild. This study has pro-
%, respectively, of total seizures of live animals recorded
duced the first reliable population estimate of the plough-
in TRAFFIC Bulletins during – (Rosen & Smith,
share tortoise and shows that the species has declined
). Collection of reptiles for illegal trade is rarely sustain-
rapidly because of poaching for the international pet
able and causes declines in wild populations (Zhou & Jiang,
trade. There is an urgent need for increased action both
; Natusch & Lyons, ; Nijman et al., ), with tur-
in Madagascar and along international trade routes if
tles and tortoises being affected heavily (Jenkins, ;
the extinction of the ploughshare tortoise in the wild is
Cheung & Dudgeon, ; Horne et al., ). Linked to
to be prevented.
traditional rites, beliefs, food preferences and medicinal
Keywords Anti-poaching, Astrochelys yniphora, chelonian, uses, tortoises have been trafficked primarily into
distance sampling, illegal wildlife trade, line transect sur- South-east and eastern Asia, with a high number of exports
veys, ploughshare tortoise, population monitoring originating from Africa (Jenkins, ; Nijman & Shepherd,
, ).
All four of Madagascar’s endemic tortoise species, the ra-
diated tortoise Astrochelys radiata, ploughshare tortoise
ANGELO MANDIMBIHASINA* (Corresponding author), LANCE WOOLAVER, RICHARD
Astrochelys yniphora, spider tortoise Pyxis arachnoides and
E. LEWIS and NIARAHA FILAZAHA Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Lot IIY flat-tailed tortoise Pyxis planicauda, are listed on Appendix
49 J Ampasanimalo, BP 8511, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar I of CITES () and categorized as Critically Endangered
E-mail angelo.ramy@durrell.org
on the IUCN Red List (Leuteritz et al., ; Leuteritz &
LIANNE CONCANNON, ANDREW R. M. TERRY and RICHARD YOUNG Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Trust, Trinity, Jersey, Channel Islands
Pedrono, ; Leuteritz & Rioux Paquette, ;
Leuteritz & Walker, ). All have been, or are currently,
E. J. MILNER-GULLAND Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
affected by illegal collection from the wild for the inter-
LYDIA L. RABETAFIKA Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences,
University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
national pet trade (O’Brien et al., ; Pedrono, ;
Walker & Rafeliarisoa, ).
*Also at: Department of Animal Biology, University of Antananarivo,
Antananarivo, Madagascar The ploughshare tortoise has long been considered one
Received September . Revision requested November . of the world’s rarest tortoises (Juvik & Blanc, ; Curl
Accepted December . First published online September . et al., ), perhaps in part because of a long history of
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880
Illegal trade in ploughshare tortoises 189
exploitation. Vaillant & Grandidier () describe a naval the ploughshare’s active season during which breeding oc-
archive from the th century which notes that stores in curs and the latter with a long period of low activity and
the region were full of tortoises, many of which were pur- aestivation.
chased by Arab sailors. Although historically ploughshare Ploughshare tortoise habitat comprises dense patches
tortoises were exploited for food, demand has shifted in of bamboo thicket Perrierbambus madagascariensis, scrub-
the latter part of the th century to keeping them as pets, shrub, and palm savannah (Smith et al., a), with
primarily in South-east Asia (Kiester et al., ; Raghavan bamboo thicket being the least accessible and most difficult
et al., ). The ploughshare tortoise has been protected by to survey (Juvik et al., ). The suitable habitat patches are
Malagasy law since (the law was revised in ), isolated, separated from each other by grass savannahs,
which prohibits collection from the wild, transportation, seasonal rivers, lakes, mangroves, marshes, salt marshes
keeping in captivity as pets, consumption, sale or export and the Bay of Baly (Fig. ). Two patches of habitat,
of live individuals. Cap Sada ( ha) and Beheta ( ha) are located on the
Currently found only in the bamboo scrub habitats eastern side of the bay and two, Betainalika (, ha) and
around Baly Bay on the north-western coast of Madagascar, Ambatomainty (, ha), on the western side
there is no evidence from the historical or sub-fossil record to (Mandimbihasina & Woolaver, ).
suggest that the species was ever found outside of this highly
restricted locality. All known ploughshare habitats are now
legally protected as core zones of Baly Bay National Park Methods
(Fig. ), established in . All entry, except for conservation
and research purposes, is forbidden. Line transect population surveys and analyses
A number of ploughshare tortoise population surveys
have been carried out. In the mid s the population Distance sampling (Buckland et al., ) is widely used for
was estimated to be – individuals (Curl, ) and monitoring land tortoises (Swann et al., ; Leuteritz
an estimate of ± individuals was reported in et al., ; Young et al., ; Smith et al., ; Walker
(Pedrono, ). The survey methods used to produce & Rafeliarisoa, ) and has been carried out by Durrell
these estimates did not account for biases arising from Wildlife Conservation Trust periodically since (with
imperfect detection, nor did they cover the species’ full a pilot study in –) to estimate ploughshare tortoise
range; consequently there is no reliable information on densities. Line transects were surveyed in October–April in
historical or current population sizes. –, – and –, between .–.
A significant decline in numbers of the ploughshare tor- and .–., because tortoises were more active during
toise is suspected to have occurred during –, but these cooler hours. For a given transect, a team of – sur-
this has not been quantified. Here we present the results veyors walked in parallel lines m apart, with a team leader
of surveys conducted during – covering the entire in the middle responsible for navigating and measuring the
species range, with the first robust estimates of ploughshare length of the transect. The survey team consisted of a pro-
tortoise population size and trend. We report data from fessional biologist acting as team leader and trained mem-
anti-poaching patrols conducted since to understand bers of the local community. All team members walked
more recent population changes and also examine data along the line transect at the same speed of .–. km/h
from seizures of ploughshare tortoises over the same and in the same direction (either east–west or north–
-year period as an indicator of the level of trafficking of south). The leader and the surveyors at the ends of the
this species. line used global positioning system (GPS) units to record
the travel distance and ensure the walked lines were as
straight as possible. The transect length was then calculated
Study area as the distance walked by the survey team multiplied by the
number of people in that team.
We carried out line transect surveys at Ambatomainty, For each survey session .–. km long line transects
Betainalika, Beheta and Cap Sada, the four known sites sup- were randomly placed at least m apart to cover all four
porting extant ploughshare tortoise subpopulations within sites of ploughshare tortoise habitat. One area of c. km
the Baly Bay National Park (Fig. ). There is also a reintro- in the centre of the largest site of tortoise habitat in
duction site at Beaboaly, where a known number of released Ambatomainty was too difficult to access and remained
tortoises are intensively monitored. The Park is located unsampled. Eighty-eight transects with a total length of
around Baly Bay in the Region of Boeny on the north- . km were surveyed in –, . km ( trans-
western coast of Madagascar. This region has two distinct ects) in –, and . km ( transects) in –.
seasons: a rainy, hot period December–March, and a dry, When a tortoise was found, all observers stopped survey-
cooler season April–November. The former coincides with ing while data were recorded. The perpendicular distance
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880190 A. Mandimbihasina et al.
FIG. 1 Map of Baly Bay National Park, Madagascar, showing the strict conservation zones of the National Park and sites of suitable
habitat for ploughshare tortoises Astrochelys yniphora. The Ambatomainty, Beheta, Betainalika and Cap Sada sites were surveyed in
three survey periods: –, – and –.
from the tortoise to the line of the surveyor that found it was activity (e.g. illegal camps, campfires, paths) and recording
measured. Sex of adults (based on plastron curvature and numbers and locations of any ploughshare tortoises seen.
anal fork opening), identification number of previously Patrol teams carried GPS units to measure distances walked
marked animals, and body measurements were recorded and recorded start and finish times of their daily patrols.
for each tortoise. Individuals were assigned to one of two We calculated the effort (distance walked and time spent
age categories based on their size: adult or subadult if they patrolling) of the anti-poaching patrols conducted during
had a carapace length . cm, and juvenile if , cm. January –May and the encounter rates (tortoises
It was not possible to distinguish between the sexes of juve- encountered per km walked). Data analyses were carried
niles during field surveys because this is only possible with out using Distance v. . (Thomas et al., ).
endoscopy. Although population size was estimated at the subpopu-
The accuracy of this transect methodology was tested lation level, here we report global population estimates to
during a pilot study in Cap Sada in –. Cap Sada avoid providing traffickers with information about tortoise
is the best studied of the wild subpopulations of the plough- numbers at each site that could influence poaching. For
share tortoise, with research carried out at this site since the both the Cap Sada pilot study and the wider survey the
s (e.g. Juvik & Blanc, ; Juvik et al., ; Smith et al., data were truncated to exclude the % of distances furthest
b). Nearly all adult and subadult tortoises in Cap Sada from the transect line, to discard unusual observations
had been permanently marked by and their total num- (Thomas et al., ). Based on lowest Akaike Information
ber was known. Twenty-seven transects with a total length Criterion (AIC) values and visual inspection of the detection
of . km, arranged in a systematic grid to ensure good functions, we selected the half-normal cosine model for
coverage of the entire area of suitable habitat, were surveyed density estimation in both cases.
in – and the results were compared to the known
population size of adults in the subpopulation.
In an attempt to understand the status of the ploughshare National and international confiscation data
tortoise population since , we collated data on any tor-
toises observed in the wild during anti-poaching patrols We collated records of ploughshare tortoises seized by
conducted in Baly Bay National Park. The patrols covered authorities outside Madagascar as reported in TRAFFIC
the sites of all four wild subpopulations and the reintro- Bulletins from June –December (TRAFFIC,
duced subpopulation, searching for signs of poaching ), and accessed from the TRAFFIC website. The age
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880Illegal trade in ploughshare tortoises 191
of seized tortoises was not always reported, so we recorded ploughshare tortoises between – and –,
only the number of individuals confiscated. Numbers of and a negligible difference between – and –
juveniles and adults were known for all confiscations in . The overall decline in the mean population estimates
Madagascar, so these were used to explore which age classes over the -year period is %.
were most targeted by poachers. We also collated all avail- However, reports from anti-poaching patrols and con-
able anecdotal and reported evidence of trafficking, sales servation NGO field teams during January –May
and demand, to examine the dynamics of illegal trade of suggest the situation has deteriorated further. Multiple visits
ploughshare tortoises. by both groups during this period covered all four main sites
of suitable habitat, plus the reintroduction site, in both the
active and low activity seasons. Quality-controlled data of
Results patrol effort were only available for Beaboaly, where the
joint anti-poaching teams conducted , hours of patrol-
Tortoise population trends ling covering , km to protect the reintroduced popula-
tion. For the other four sub-populations, patrols totalled
In our Cap Sada pilot study in – we observed , hours. This at least equals the effort (in terms of
adults along transect lines totalling . km. Despite time spent searching for tortoises and surface area covered)
the small sample size, the detection function provided a of conducting the , km of surveys during –.
good fit to the data (χ = ., P = .) and we estimated Despite this large-scale and intensive search effort, no ani-
a density of . adult tortoises per ha (% CI = .–. mals have been seen in two of the wild subpopulations since
adult tortoises per ha) and a population size of indivi- the end of . The situation is less clear for the other two
duals (% CI = – tortoises). This is relatively close subpopulations, but given the low encounter rates that were
to the adults believed to be in the subpopulation at the observed, we suspect that both have been severely depleted
time based on data from the long-term mark-recapture since and (based on only one individual being found)
study (Smith et al., b) of –. one subpopulation now consists of , individuals.
Despite a survey effort of . km per survey session,
totalling . km of line transects over the -year moni-
toring period, we did not meet the target number of tortoise Trends in confiscations
observations required (– data points per period;
Buckland et al., ) to reliably model a detection function The first report of ploughshare tortoises confiscated outside
for each of the three sampling periods. Therefore the data Madagascar was of three individuals seized in Belgium
were pooled to estimate a global detection function (i.e. ap- in . The next was one individual confiscated in Japan
plied to all three survey periods; Obbard et al., ), which in . The number seized per year outside Madagascar
showed no signs of avoidance of the survey line or heaping has increased since (Fig. ) with peaks in ( tor-
of observations at any distance, which was post-stratified to toises) and (). A total of ploughshare tortoises
generate population abundance and density estimates for have been confiscated outside Madagascar in separate
each survey period. The detection function provided a seizures during – (Fig. ).
good fit to the data (χ = ., df = , P = .), and was The first confiscation recorded in Madagascar was in
used to estimate density because it had the lowest AIC , of nine adults in a single seizure, and only a single
value across all possible models. juvenile was confiscated during the following -year period
Ploughshare tortoise encounter rates and population up to . However, since the number of confiscated
density and size estimates for each survey session are ploughshare tortoises in Madagascar has increased each
presented in Table . The confidence intervals around the year (Fig. ) with peaks in ( tortoises) and
mean estimated population sizes are large, but the difference (). The total number of ploughshare tortoises confiscated
in the mean estimates suggest a rapid decline in wild within Madagascar during – was individuals
TABLE 1 Number of ploughshare tortoises recorded (A, adults; SA, subadults; J, juveniles) during surveys, encounter rates, and population
density and size estimates with lower and upper % confidence limits (CL).
Distance Tortoises recorded Encounter rate A + SA/J Density Population Lower Upper
Time period surveyed (km) A + SA/J (tortoises per km) (tortoises per ha)* size* 95% CL 95% CL
2006–2008 563.9 43/15 0.076/0.027 0.076 1,105 709 1,722
2011–2013 514.2 26/18 0.056/0.035 0.036 517 174 1,535
2014–2015 552.1 38/13 0.067/0.024 0.035 506 188 1,359
*Population density and size estimates are for adults and subadults only.
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880192 A. Mandimbihasina et al.
FIG. 2 Number of ploughshare
tortoises confiscated
internationally and in
Madagascar in –
(age-specific data were only
available for national
confiscations). Numbers above
each column indicate number of
seizures (international/
Madagascar) for that year.
Juveniles were defined as tortoises
with a carapace length , cm.
( adults and juveniles) in seizures. The total num- pers. comm.). Nine of these were confirmed as having re-
ber of seizures (international and national) was highest in cently been taken from wild populations, based on identifi-
– (, , seizures, respectively) and (), com- cation markings visible in the online photographs.
pared with – seizures in all other years.
Discussion
Additional evidence of illegal wildlife trade
Our study provides the first estimates of ploughshare tor-
During the period of rapid population decline, NGO field toise population size and trend based on range-wide sur-
teams in Baly Bay observed an escalation in the reported veys, using a method that takes imperfect detection into
price being offered to local poachers by collectors for an account. Our results reveal that the ploughshare tortoise
adult ploughshare tortoise, from c. USD in , to probably declined by . % during –, but more re-
USD in and USD in (Jinoro Delphin, cent field patrols suggest an even larger decline, with some
pers. comm.). For context, the mean local wage in the subpopulations (at least the adults and subadults) now
villages adjacent to the National Park is USD .– per day probably extinct. Concurrent data on escalating confisca-
(Andrianandrasana, ). tions in Madagascar and South-east Asia, together with
The main intended destinations for ploughshare tor- anecdotal evidence of high and increasing levels of poaching
toises, based on confiscation patterns, are Thailand, activity in Baly Bay, identify the illegal international pet
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, with trade as the driver of this rapid and severe decline.
animals transiting through Kenya and Abu Dhabi from Given the low population density of this species, over
Madagascar (TRAFFIC, ). Although data are lacking , km of survey effort was required to obtain sufficient
on trade routes into China, it is suspected that many traf- sample sizes for analyses. The remoteness and relative in-
ficked animals are destined for collectors there (Gibbons, accessibility of the study area, combined with the cryptic na-
). Collectors in demand countries pay high prices for ture of the species and its short active season, resulted in
ploughshare tortoises, with recent reports of tortoises for several limitations of the survey. Firstly, because of lower
sale in Indonesia from USD for a small individual to than anticipated numbers of tortoise detections, our popu-
USD , for a large animal (Morgan & Chng, ). lation estimates had relatively wide confidence intervals (al-
Use of the internet and social media platforms appears to though our pilot study of the line transect method to survey
facilitate illegal trade of ploughshare tortoises (Morgan & the Cap Sada population produced a population estimate
Chng, ), which first started appearing for sale online close to the known population size, despite the low numbers
in c. (Walker, ; Kiester et al., ). We suspect of observations). Secondly, we were not able to access the
there has been a recent spike in online sales, e.g. five adult central portion of Ambatomainty, the western-most and lar-
ploughshare tortoises were on sale on a Hong Kong website gest patch of suitable habitat, because of its remoteness and
in , and seven were for sale online in (R. Lewis, dense vegetation. In the analysis, we assumed tortoise
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880Illegal trade in ploughshare tortoises 193
Despite these limitations, we believe the evidence pre-
sented here points to a catastrophic decline in the plough-
share tortoise. In – the estimated density of
individuals of or near breeding age was only . individuals
per km. To put this into context, the density (of all age
classes) of the rare and threatened Sonoran desert tortoise
Gopherus agassizii at an arid mountain site in the southern
USA was individuals per km (Zylstra et al., ). The
lack of ploughshare tortoise observations since January
, despite repeated field visits, leads us to suspect that
only one of the four wild subpopulations contains .
adults and subadults, and two of the subpopulations have
probably been extirpated. Given its long generation time
of c. years and limited capacity to recover from popula-
tion declines, this species is now in a perilous situation and
its survival is at risk.
At the time of writing, ploughshare tortoises have
been confiscated (both within and outside Madagascar)
during trafficking attempts since , of these since
. Seizure data consistently and substantially underesti-
mate actual numbers of animals poached (D’Cruze &
Macdonald, ), and therefore the numbers of adults
and juveniles taken from the wild and trafficked since
may be in the low thousands (probably mostly juve-
niles, which are not represented in our population esti-
mates). Although it is not possible to evaluate temporal
trends in enforcement effort, there has been an increase in
corruption in Madagascar since the political instability
commencing in , leading to a reduced capacity to con-
FIG. 3 Photos of the illegal trade in ploughshare tortoises. (a) A trol illegal trade (Randriamalala & Liu, ; Gore et al.,
shipment confiscated in Madagascar at Ivato International ). This corresponds with our survey results, which
Airport in July included juvenile and adult ploughshare show a significant drop in numbers between the first and
tortoise, radiated tortoises Astrochelys radiata, and a spider second survey periods, indicating that intensive poaching
tortoise Pyxis arachnoides (Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust,
started c. .
). (b) A seizure of Malagasy tortoises in Thailand in
included ploughshare tortoises and radiated tortoises
When the ploughshare tortoise population rapidly de-
(Panjit Tansome, TRAFFIC ). (c) Five adult ploughshare clined, increasing effort will have been required by poachers
tortoises, two of which are clearly engraved, for sale on a to locate tortoises in the wild, which could be a disincentive
Chinese website in June . for poaching. However, the Anthropogenic Allee effect pre-
dicts that increasing species rarity drives up desirability,
density in this area to be equivalent to the mean density which in turn drives up the amount people are willing
across the rest of the species’ range. Given its challenging ac- to pay (Hall et al., ; Lyons & Natusch, ). This is
cessibility, this may be an important site for ploughshare reflected in the -fold increase since in the local
tortoises and requires continued intensive protection. price paid to poachers for tortoises taken from the wild.
Thirdly, as a result of the low numbers of juveniles observed, Given that ploughshare tortoises have been for sale for near-
we were limited to estimating population size and density ly USD , in a demand country we anticipate that these
for adults and subadults. Smaller individuals are hard to local price escalations may continue, sustaining the poach-
detect in the dense bamboo scrub, but the lack of sightings ing intensity even as the global wild population of the
of juveniles in some subpopulations in – and – ploughshare tortoise declines to just a few individuals.
, compared with earlier years, suggests a decline in the Prior to the recent increase in poaching, the ploughshare
number of individuals in this age class. Most of the plough- tortoise conservation programme had made good progress
share tortoises confiscated have been juveniles, which can be towards achieving its goals, with successful habitat protec-
more easily concealed and transported in large numbers tion, reduction of threats from fire and cattle encroachment,
(Fig. ), and this could partially explain the lack of sightings and a promising reintroduction programme (Durbin et al.,
of juveniles. ; Wallis, ; Mandimbihasina & Woolaver, ).
Oryx, 2020, 54(2), 188–196 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001880
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001880194 A. Mandimbihasina et al.
However, the upsurge in international demand, facilitated field assistants. Funding for field surveys was provided by the Durrell
by weakening governance and limited law enforcement, Wildlife Conservation Trust, Disney Conservation Fund, Turtle
Conservation Fund (2013 & 2014), Turtle Conservancy, and the U.S.
resulted in conservation agencies having to adapt and diver-
Fish & Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders (EA-0055/2009,
sify their responses rapidly, to include anti-poaching EA-0205/2011)—Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund.
actions, judicial capacity development and national and
international advocacy. It is clear that these interventions
have not been sufficient in scale or intensity to reduce Author contributions Data collection, data analysis and writing of
poaching. Even engraving the carapaces of all wild, released first draft: AM; help with fieldwork: NF; coordination of field research:
LW, REL, LLR; compilation of confiscation data: LW, AM; assistance
and captive ploughshare tortoises (John & Shepherd, ) with data analysis: LC and RY; assistance with writing and editing: LW,
appears to have failed to reduce demand, with engraved an- LC, EJMG, REL, AT; design lead of field research, writing and editing
imals now for sale online. A lack of enforcement action of later drafts: RY.
against traders or buyers of these engraved tortoises has
probably contributed to the lack of success of this campaign.
Immediate action is needed to safeguard the remaining Conflicts of interest None.
wild, released and captive populations. Anti-poaching ac-
tions in Baly Bay must be scaled up and improved, including
Ethical standards The research was authorized by Madagascar
better detection of poachers (e.g. using patrol dogs), tortoise
National Parks, the manager of Baly Bay National Park, and the
protection (e.g. fences), and rapid response enforcement Ministry of Ecology, Environment and Forest of Madagascar during
techniques that have been developed elsewhere to combat 2006–2015. No specimen was taken from the wild during fieldwork; tor-
poaching (Moreto & Lemieux, ; O’Donoghue & Rutz, toises were only captured and handled for data recording during surveys.
; Avery, ). Captive populations are being estab-
lished outside Madagascar as assurance colonies, using
internationally confiscated animals (Kiester et al., ), References
and new breeding centres are also required in Madagascar,
A N D R I A N A N D R A S A N A , H. () Testing the effectiveness of
with high-security measures to prevent animals being
community-based conservation in conserving biodiversity, protecting
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