Philippines Update as of 7/8/15 concerning status of confiscation of S. leytensis

Cowboy_Ken

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Everyone I must tell you I regret not being able to post this information back when first I learned of it. In that it contained a straight out asking for donations, had I done so would have been in direct violation of the terms of our favorite forum. For complete articles with heart stopping photos, please feel free to email me and I will provide you with a link to the full 2 articles.


Last month from 06/18/2015

Crisis in the Philippines
Dear Members and Friends,

Our message today is so urgent, and so important to the continued survival of a critically endangered species, that we are jointly requesting your help alongside our friends and colleagues at the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), and the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF).

Yesterday, authorities in Palawan confiscated over 4,000 turtles just before they were to be shipped out from their native island in the Philippines. More than 3,800 of them were endemic Philippine Forest Turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), a species that exists only in a very small area in the northern end of Palawan. This number exceeds our current understanding of the existing wild population, and it would take decades for this slow-growing species to possibly recover from the effects of this massive, highly coordinated poaching event. Our concern is that the species may never recover from these staggering losses unless immediate action is taken.


The future of the Philippine Forest Turtle is hanging in the balance, or more appropriately, in a warehouse in Palawan, and we need your support to help these turtles now!

Funds are urgently needed for triage, transportation to safe facilities, and nursing care of these rare turtles. Being a solitary species in the wild, they are sensitive to stress and will die quickly when maintained in groups. We must not keep nearly 4,000 turtles in overcrowded conditions, or most of them are certain to perish.

Our friends at the Katala Foundation in Palawan are leading the heroic rehabilitation efforts for these turtles and are in immediate need of assistance. We are mobilizing support from the world turtle conservation community and we need your help. Our colleagues at the Wildlife Reserves Singapore and several international zoos have already stepped up with generous commitments to help with this crisis, and our own organizations have made commitments to join their efforts. Many of the turtles are in immediate need of veterinary care, while others are stable but need to be separated and returned to the wild as soon as possible.
Originally described in the 1920s, only four specimens of the Philippine Forest Turtle were known to science until about twelve years ago when the species was rediscovered on Palawan. Since then, a concerted effort to conduct surveys and understand their biology has been underway, and reintroduction studies have been conducted. In 2009, the TSA and TC partnered to consult with the local Katala Foundation in Palawan on the Philippine Forest Turtle to construct turtle rescue facilities for events like this, but none of us ever imagined a crisis of this magnitude.






UPDATE AS OF 07/08/2015

Dear Friends,

First and foremost we want to say thank-you to all of you for your support during the past three weeks. It has been an incredibly trying time and without everyone's support (financial, personnel, supplies, and well wishes) this entire event could have turned into a catastrophic event quickly. We cannot stress how much we appreciated the outpouring of support. While we are in no way "done" with the crisis, some semblance of control has been established. We, as a community, cannot ignore that this could happen again, and will need to start planning to be proactive against it.

It is has been just three short weeks since the initial confiscation happened. It is hard to imagine that it has only been three weeks, so much has happened, so much has been accomplished!

Where to start? We received immediate veterinary support (Vets, Vet-techs, and keepers) from several organizations. In addition, we recruited about 30 local students to assist as we desperately needed extra hands. Everyone went to work immediately processing turtles and separating out the healthy from the ill. It became clear on day one that many animals were actually in better health than we had initially feared, and would therefore be candidates for immediate release. From that point forward, priority number one was identify and separate those animals for release from those that would need treatment.

While there were inevitably some losses due to health conditions, we are pleased to report that we have released approximately 80% of the animals back into their native habitat in northern Palawan, with more animals being released this week. We will begin to conduct follow up surveys to assess their survival shortly; all animals were marked for future identification so will be readily distinguishable from "wild" animals. We still have a little less than 300 animals that are going to require long-term treatments and care, primarily for severe shell rot and eye infections. However, <300 is a much more manageable number than almost 4,000 and we feel like the situation is now under control. Several people have recently asked if need any supplies, for now the answer is no. Thanks for offering, but right now we have the necessary supplies. However, we have no idea how long we will need to care for these remaining animals, so some supplies may be needed in the future.

We have moved the animals from Puerto Princessa to the Katala Foundation facility in Narra. Prior to their transport we set up new ponds for the animals. We are settling in and currently have three Vet-techs helping us, some Filipino keepers, as well as the regular Katala staff. We are expecting additional Vets and Vet-techs to rotate in as our current ones prepare to leave so we can maintain the highest level of veterinary care. By mid-next week we will be re-assessing our needs moving forward for additional qualified volunteers to help with the veterinary care. We will let everyone know if we need additional help.

There is still lots to do, and the politics and protection moving forward are going to be a huge undertaking. For now, we are happy to have such wonderful friends who rallied around us during this crisis. We cannot thank you enough for the support and encouragement.

We have attached a couple of pics of the new temporary ponds set up at Katala Foundation as well as some pics of the team processing turtles.

On behalf of the team in Palawan

Andrew Walde

Co-chair Program Committee
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Cowboy_Ken

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 18, 2011
Messages
17,560
Location (City and/or State)
Suburban-life in Salem, Oregon
I mean, “Send me a PM and I'll be happy to send you a link"
And hopefully this won't be crossing the line of the forum, but additionally
In regard to the statement made,
“By mid-next week we will be re-assessing our needs moving forward for additional qualified volunteers to help with the veterinary care. We will let everyone know if we need additional help." PM me as well your email address and I'll give you the information when I get it.
 
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