Investigating the threats facing Madagascar’s charismatic creatures
Photographs and press articles
Madagascar’s Tortoise Mafia
Their homes are being burned to the ground and they are illegally eaten in their millions. As if life as a tortoise in Madagascar wasn’t hard enough, they now face a new threat: the tortoise mafia. We journeyed into the sacred forests of southern Madagascar to witness one plodding animals’ rapid march to extinction.
Four Corners travelled to Madagascar, Africa’s tortoise hot spot back, to investigate the crises facing these unique reptiles. Scientists believe Madagascar’s tortoises are experiencing unparalleled declines; of the country’s five endemic species, all are critically endangered.
Populations of radiated tortoises have, for example, decreased by around 50% in the past 10 years alone.
Now, tortoises also being poached and then shipped to Asia, the hub of the exotic pet trade, and then re-exported to collectors around the world. Less fortunate tortoises are sold on markets, their body parts used to create aphrodisiacs.