Live | About fifty turtles of an endangered species submitted from Monaco to Senegal
About fifty “spurred” tortoises left Monaco on Saturday for Senegal, via Paris, as part of an operation intended to support the local populations of this endangered species.
These reptiles of the Centrochelys sulcata species, the largest continental land turtle, some specimens of which weigh up to 100 kg and live for centuries, were born at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in recent years. They are said to be furrowed because of the concentric furrows present on their shell.
This operation, carried out in partnership with the African Chelonian Institute in Senegal, will take place over several months. After their transfer by truck to Paris and then by plane to Dakar in six specially equipped crates, the 46 juveniles will be placed in quarantine for six months in an observation enclosure located in the Turtle Village of Noflaye, near Dakar. 49 were born in captivity in Monaco but two remain in the principality and one is deceased.
These juveniles will then be placed for a year in a fenced part of the Koyli Alpha Nature Reserve in the northwest of the country, then released within this same reserve. The program established between the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco and its Senegalese counterpart provides for population monitoring for two years.
Born themselves in captivity, the parents of these juveniles were offered in 2011 to Albert II of Monaco by Mali during an official visit by the prince to the country. The seven specimens in question have since been housed in a specially equipped space in the Oceanographic Museum, with the aim of both raising public awareness and conserving the species.
The natural habitat of African spurred tortoises, present throughout the Sahelian strip, is particularly threatened by the overgrazing of domestic livestock. They are also victims of poaching, either for pet trafficking or for the consumption of their chairs or the sale of their shells on the black market. They are classified as species “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
“In Senegal, it is a very endangered species since at the last census there are 150 left, it’s really not a lot”, said Robert Calcagno, Director General of the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco. Since the first births in 2014, this organization was looking for a partner to carry out a reintroduction operation. He had to give up finalizing a project carried out for several years with Mali because of the political and security situation in this country.
The main family attended on Saturday, on the panoramic terrace of the Oceanographic Museum, the departure of the young turtles.