Zoologist Clint Doak examines a colorful Indochinese box turtle (above). The Turtle Survival Center houses one of the country’s largest breeding colonies of the critically endangered species, thanks to a supporter from Hong Kong who donated 55 animals she rescued by purchasing them from a fish market.
Photo by Mic Smith
After meticulously washing and drying his hands, zoologist Clint Doak reaches into an aquarium tank and lifts out Eddy, a rare, Chinese big-headed turtle hatchling about the size of a silver dollar.
“We don’t take chances with anything,” Doak says of the hygiene regimen, designed to prevent the spread of disease in the nursery of the Turtle Survival Center near Cross. Every feature in the room—from special UV lights that stimulate shell growth to the bank of spigots and drains that ensure a healthy water supply—is designed to nurture young turtles through their first year of life.
Similar in appearance to an American snapping turtle, Chinese big-headed turtles live in shallow, cold-water streams in Southeast Asia, where they have been hunted for food and medicine, putting them on a fast path toward extinction. But the tiny creature resting in Doak’s left palm, hatched in captivity with three healthy siblings, represents hope that the species will recover.
“We are one of the few places in the country breeding these guys,” Doak says. “We only have a few pairs, and we have one of the largest collections. So, when we hatched these guys for the first time last year, we were super excited.”
‘Committed to zero turtle extinctions’
Pampering rare and endangered turtles is all in a day’s work at the facility operated by the nonprofit Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA). The international coalition of zoos, aquariums, NGOs, universities and conservation-minded individuals formed in 2001 with an ambitious goal: stop turtle extinction by breeding genetically diverse turtle colonies in captivity, termed “assurance colonies.”
“We are committed to zero turtle extinctions,” says biologist Cris Hagen, TSA’s director of animal management.
Of the 330-plus turtle species in the world, more than half are considered endangered, he says.
“We’re trying to take care of animals that are slipping through the cracks,” Hagen says. “There are species that are down to 100 to 500 individuals left in the world, and they haven’t been seen in the wild in five or more years. There’s a good chance that there might be one or two or 10 of them out there in the wild, but they are functionally extinct.”
The Turtle Survival Center specializes in breeding species native to Southeast Asia. Turtles in that region have been especially hard hit since the 1980s, when China’s currency became convertible, causing demand for meat and shells from neighboring countries to skyrocket. “A lot of people suddenly had the ability to purchase turtle medicine and have turtle soup on the table,” he says. “Millions of people in China began buying turtles from all over Southeast Asia and beyond.”
The international pet trade (both legal and illegal) is another major threat to turtle and tortoise populations around the world. By the early 2000s, Hagen says, “several turtle species were already on the brink of extinction in the wild.” Scarcity led to escalating prices, and that economic incentive remains one of the primary obstacles to protecting some species in their native lands.
“We are not currently sending animals from here back to Vietnam and China, but that is the plan,” Hagen says. “In most cases, the habitat is there. There are even protected areas; there’s just often not enforcement of protected areas. If someone is willing to pay $20,000 or $30,000 or $50,000 for a single turtle, it’s virtually impossible to protect them in the wild.”
‘Live, breathe and sleep turtles’
With 650 animals under their care, a nursery full of recent hatchlings and more eggs “cooking” in the incubator, the five-person staff at the Turtle Survival Center “live, breathe and sleep turtles 24/7,” Doak says.
Most of the team live on-site, where, in addition to daily care and feeding of turtles, they maintain and build new enclosures with plants, terrain and water features that mimic natural habitats. They couldn’t do it without a network of community partners, including Berkeley Electric Cooperative, says Ilze Astad, TSA’s director of development.
The center relies on Berkeley Electric to power lighting, security cameras, electric fences, climate-controlled greenhouses, nursery equipment and a complex system of wells, pumps and filters that circulate clean, fresh water throughout the property. Efficiency expert Eddie Plowden, Berkeley’s director of marketing and energy services, recently completed a comprehensive energy audit to help the facility better manage power use.
“We are working with Berkeley Electric to learn the next steps for being greener and more efficient with our energy costs,” Astad says. “The relationship with the co-op has been amazing.”
The cooperative’s right-of-way maintenance crews supply mulch that lines turtle enclosures and greenhouse paths. “Mulch is a constant need for us,” Doak says. “We can never have too much.” Berkeley Electric employees volunteer to spread the word about the need for turtle conservation—around the world and close to home.
“We’ve been working with Berkeley Electric to organize field trips and provide an immersion opportunity for students of all ages to come out and have a hands-on experience with some very rare turtles,” Astad says.
Slow and steady wins the race
As breeding programs succeed and more turtles are rescued from international black markets, new buildings, infrastructure and enclosures must be built to house the growing population. In effect, the Turtle Survival Center is in a constant state of gradual construction, Hagen says.
Current facilities include the nursery or “baby room,” a greenhouse, a forested enclosure and the tortoise barn, each planted and maintained to meet the needs of different species. At every turn, TSA staffers go to great lengths to keep their turtles healthy, happy and in top breeding form.
In the nursery, they number each hatchling and meticulously record veterinary and feeding records in a database. Asked what they feed the juveniles, Doak and veterinary-care manager Sheena Koeth open large, plastic containers filled with prime turtle food—wriggling earthworms and swarms of hissing cockroaches, which also get special treatment.
“It’s called gut-loading,” Doak explains. “We feed the insects a super-rich diet, because that diet gets transferred to the turtles.”
The tropical greenhouse containing Sulawesi tortoises and the world’s largest known captive collection of Sulawesi forest turtles—a species discovered by biologists in the early 1990s—is a carefully controlled microenvironment planted with banana trees, hibiscus and other edible vegetation. The TSA staff regularly releases ladybugs into the enclosure as a form of natural insect control.
One of the highlights of the facility—the closely guarded Cuora Complex—is one of two areas dedicated to the center’s extensive populations of several critically endangered Asian box turtle species. All 13 species of the genus Cuora are in jeopardy, and the Turtle Survival Center now has breeding populations for 12 of them.
Male and female box turtles are kept separate before and after breeding season. “That’s how they evolved, and that’s how they interact,” Doak says. “If males and females are kept together, it can be very stressful and they will often fight.”
During the reproductive season, March through July for most of the species at the center, Koeth uses digital X-rays and ultrasound equipment to monitor gravid females and determine the number of fertilized eggs. She keeps an eye on the enclosures for nesting behavior, and when female turtles deposit their eggs, the staff carefully excavates and numbers each one before rushing them to the incubator.
“If we see six eggs on an X-ray, we know we need to get six eggs,” Koeth says.
Feeding time
Turtles at the center are fed three times a week and enjoy a surprising variety of food. Papayas, bananas, mulberries and blackberries grown on-site provide food and shade and mimic native habitats. Limehouse Produce donates surplus vegetables and fruit nearing its sell-by date, and the monks of Mepkin Abbey donate surplus mushroom cuts.
“Our turtles eat really well,” Astad says. When it’s feeding time at the Burmese mountain tortoise enclosure, three massive reptiles—each weighing in excess of 40 pounds—lumber toward the staff the moment they enter the enclosure.
On the menu: shiitake and oyster mushrooms, ripe strawberries and freshly picked blackberries. But the real treat in the large bowl of turtle chow is a stack of thick-sliced tomatoes. As the caretakers begin laying out the buffet, the tortoises stretch their leathery necks forward, jaws gaping open in hungry anticipation.
“Tomatoes for turtles are like candy,” Doak says with laugh. “It is the sweetest, most delicious thing. They absolutely love tomatoes.”
Doak, Astad and Koeth are all smiles as they take a moment to watch the tortoises enjoy their meal, then it’s back to the long list of chores demanding their attention.
“Anything and everything,” Doak says with a shrug. “The five of us do it all.”
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Get More
For more information on the Turtle Survival Center and the Turtle Survival Alliance, contact Ilze Astad at (843) 830‑4040 or visit turtlesurvival.org.