14 DAY TRIAL // Recent reports issued by conservationists warn that, for the time being, over half of the turtle and tortoise species to have until now been documented by scientists across the world are either threatened or endangered.
In an attempt to protect the world's remaining tortoise population against poachers and collectors, greenheads have turned to carving their shell.
Since this body part is the one that more often than not sells for thousands of dollars on the black market, conservationists expect that, by ruining it, they are helping tortoises stay safe from poachers and people who would like to turn them into their pets. Inhabitat tells us that ploughshare tortoises living at the Turtle Conservancy in California's Ojai Valley, are all to be subjected to this treatment.
This is because this species, which is native to Madagascar, is now incredibly rare and therefore very valuable on the black market, the same source explains.
The folks behind this project say that, apart from engraving the tortoises living at the Turtle Conservancy, they are also busy purposely ruining the shells of reptiles belonging to this species that currently live in the wild.
“We are balancing some harm with the benefit to the species and the individual,” veterinarian Paul Gibbons explained in a recent interview.