About The Asian Turtle Consortium...
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The Asian Turtle Consortium is an independent network of individuals,
organizations, and businesses in the private sector committed to the in
and ex-situ conservation of all Asian freshwater water turtles and
tortoises species. Our efforts are focused on planned captive breeding
programs and the management of chelonian assurance colonies with the
long term goal of providing stocks for future repatriation within native
range of extirpated species.
Latest News
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Dedication of the Tortoise Reserve's Conservation and Education to Dr. Barbara Bonner
On the weekend of 5-6 June 2004 thirty turtle enthusiast assembled at the
Tortoise Reserve's White Lake (NC) property to dedicate its captive breeding
facility to the late Dr. Barbara Bonner. She had visited the facility and
its 140 acre reserve on South River several months before she died.
The primary focus of the facility is a captive breeding center for rare
Asian turtles. The greenhouse, outdoor tortoise crawls, and various ponds
and pens provide over 4,000 sq. feet for natural habitat set ups. The total
collection consists of 125 taxa, 47 taxa and most of the major breeding
groups are Asian species. A number of these represent turtles now extinct in
the wild. Conservation International provided a grant which assisted with
the construction cost of the greenhouse.
As
part of the ceremony a long term captive group of gulf coast box turtles,
which was under the care of Dr. Bonner, was released in an outdoor 1,000
square foot pen. The pen was constructed the weekend of the event by members
of the Turtle and Tortoise Club of Florida. Dave Lee, Leslie Levine, and
Kurt Buhlman said a few remarks, but the dedication was a simple straight
forward and brief event. Dr. Buhlman noted what an important contribution
Barb had made to our knowledge in the veterinary care of Asian turtles,
"with out this knowledge it would not be possible to maintain most of the
assurance colonies of Asian turtles." These private sector assurance
colonies are critical for many turtles which are nearing extinction, or are
already extinct in the wild.
The Bonner award, a recognition for expertise in long-term husbandry and
captive breeding of Asian turtles, was presented to Dennis Uhrig in 2003 and
will be given to Walter Allen at the Daytona Expo in 2004. This annual award
is presented in the hope that all Barb did to advance the knowledge of
veterinarian care of Asian turtles and her independent and pioneering sprit
will be remembered.
A silent auction held at the weekend event raised over $850. The funds, in
part, were donated to Asian Scholarship Program (a chelonian conservation
effort). The amount was matched by the Mid Atlantic Turtle and Tortoise
Society. In the past funds generated from these Tortoise Reserve auctions
have been donated to the Turtle and Tortoise Newsletter (Chelonian Research
Foundation), the Asian Turtle Consortium, and various private sector turtle
conservation programs.
Other activities of the weekend included various chores at the Tortoise
Reserve, a few construction projects, canoeing a 12 mile stretch of the
Black River with a 12-16,000 year old cypress forest, turtle egg hunts,
several field trips, mass consumption of adult beverages, and the release of
numerous native head started captive bred turtles on the Reserve's property.
D. S. Lee
White Lake, NC
2004 Daytona Expo to Promote Endangered Crocodilian Conservation
For the last several years the
Daytona National Reptile Breeders' Expo and Reptiles Magazine have teamed up to
help in fund raising for private sector sponsored reptile and amphibian
conservation efforts. Each year a single conservation cause is identified as the
official focus for fund raising. Last year the Asian Turtle Consortium raised
$17,000 in Daytona from a combination of tee shirt sales, donations and a
Saturday evening auction. Most of the auction items came from private donations,
many from venders at the Expo.
This years activities will benefit two highly endangered species of freshwater
crocodilians, the Orinoco Crocodile ( Crocodylus intermedius ) and the
Philippine Crocodile ( Crocodylus mindorensis ). On going private
sector captive breeding and release programs already exist within the ranges of
the respective species. Funds generated will be used largely for genetic studies
of the founder stock in these programs to limit the possibility of inbreeding,
but funding will also be available to expand the respective efforts, fine tune
existing local release programs, and improve the husbandry of the breeding
groups. Unlike most conservation programs there is zero overhead and funding
will not be used to support academic research. All funds raised will go directly
toward helping active working programs with proven track records. This is direct
private sector conservation, and because the money will be spent in range in
developing countries by programs already in place, modest funding goes along way
in supporting goal oriented conservation.
Because this conservation fund drive has now become a tradition at the Expo it
was in need of a full time coordinator. Dave Lee of The Tortoise Reserve is
overseeing this aspect of the Expo. The 2005 Expo will target the conservation
needs of Bahaman rock iguanas. The conservation community appreciates Wayne
Hill, founder of the Expo, and Reptiles Magazine for their help and dedication.