Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #tortoises
Most recents (3)
Me and the family went to ZSL #LondonZoo today, had a great time and saw all the #animals. Here's a short thread. Some highlights: Western lowland gorilla, Sumatran tiger, Komodo dragon, Galapagos giant tortoise... 
Just a few of the literally 100s of birds at #LondonZoo: Woolly-necked stork, Northern crested caracaras (big, semi-terrestrial American falcons) and Red and yellow barbet. Barbets are members of the woodpecker group; some are close kin of toucans. #birds #animals #zoos
Some #reptiles: the remarkably yellow Cuming's water monitor, an awesome Reticulated python (cue #HarryPotter link), Big-headed turtle (able to climb, prehensile-tailed) and Rio Fuerte beaded lizard... #lizards #snakes #squamates #turtles
(1/11) It turns out #rewilding is all about #tortoises! Here’s another Mauritius tortoise paper for you by Griffiths et al. (2014), where they look at non-native tortoise grazing as a long-term restoration strategy.
(2/11) First, some context. Round Island restoration began in the 1970's by removing introduced herbivores (rabbits and goats). They previously grazed non-natives preventing non-natives out-competing native plants, although also prevented native forest regrowth.
(3/11) When non-native herbivores (rabbits and goats) were removed, non-natives plants out-competed native plants. Restoration efforts has involved manually promoting forest regrowth and manually clearing non-native plants.
We have been seeing the devastating news of the last known female #Rafetus swinhoei’s death. While we talk of captive breeding and building assurance colonies, I have a few thoughts. A thread. Disclaimer: This thread is about South Asia and mostly India. #Turtles #Tortoises
South Asian #turtles face extreme threats to their survival because of habitat loss, poaching and uncontrolled hunting. While assurance colonies are important to protect critically endangered species, how much attention are we paying to find out what is their natural history...
What is the ecology of these threatened species? What are we doing to ensure their survival in the wild?
