109: rare tortoises rescued

I found this heartening story from Madagascar on BBC online today, about the numbers of rare and endangered tortoises that have been rescued from smugglers of late. In one of the most recent seizures, a single Nigerian man was arrested with 300 tortoises in his possession! Most smuggled tortoises find their way into the exotic pet trade, selling for as much as $10,000. However, experts believe that the rarest species, the ploughshare tortoise (pictured here), could be extinct within 10 years if smuggling continues at its present rate - there are just 1000 left in the wild. So the success of the Madagascan authorities' recent efforts is critical, though it must be sustained if these beautiful creatures are to survive.