Madagascan locals pull together to save thousands of endangered tortoises

A community in southern Madagascar has pulled together to save thousands of critically endangered tortoises.

The reptiles were swept away from their sanctuary and left swimming for their lives in floods caused by tropical cyclone Dikeledi earlier this month.

The 12,000 radiated and spider tortoises, housed at the Lavavolo Tortoise Centre, had been confiscated from illegal wildlife traffickers.

Flood waters a metre high engulfed the sanctuary and the tortoises, many of whom are youngsters of 25 to 50-years-old, were carried away.

"The centre was flooded like we never experienced it before. It was a big shock for the team and the animals as well," says Rakotonanahary Tsanta Fiderana, Head of Veterinary Support at Turtle Survival Alliance Madagascar.

Sanctuary staff, locals, and even police officers could be seen with basins scouring the water for signs of life.

About 700 dead tortoises have been found so far, trapped by rocks and debris in the floodwater.

While most of the tortoises have been returned to the sanctuary, the floods were a blow to the centre, which has lost much of its infrastructure.

Hery Razafimamonjiraibe, the Madagascar director for the Turtle Survival Alliance, which runs the sanctuary, says they still had to do an official count.

“That's not easy as tortoises can move faster than you think when they want to and rarely cooperate,” he said.

Most of the tortoises at Lavavolo are radiated tortoises, which are native to Madagascar and the nearby islands of Reunion and Mauritius.

They generally grow to about 30 centimetres in length and live as long as a 100 years or more.

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.

There were once tens of millions of radiated tortoises in Madagascar, the Alliance says, but they have disappeared from 65 per cent of their natural habitat.