The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 28, Number 3; March, 2001

Giant Tortoises Overwhelm U.S. Rescues

North American Groups Call for a Stop on Sales

Reprinted from Notes from NOAH, the newsletter of the Northern Ohio Association of Herpetologists, Vol.28, No.3, December 2000.
Originally published in The North Carolina Herpetological Society Newsletter, October 2000.

Malibu, CA and Owatonna, MN -- Turtle and tortoise rehabilitation specialists, academicians, wildlife groups, and rescue organizations throughout North America are calling on the pet industry, reptile wholesalers, and private breeders to stop the sale of giant tortoises commonly called "sulcatas."

The effort, spearheaded by American Tortoise Rescue in Malibu, California and Tortoise Trust USA in Owatonna, Minnesota, asks the public to support a moratorium on purchasing these tortoises as hatchlings.

Geochelone sulcata, also known as the African Spurred Tortoise, is a hardy and personable species of tortoise. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, it became part of the lucrative pet trade during the 1990s. It has an engaging nature, is attractive, and sells for a very low price. These traits make it the most commonly purchased pet tortoise in North America.

Unknown to the unwary buyer, however, is that sulcatas are the third largest species of tortoise in the world, weighing over 200 pounds or more, and attaining this size in a very short period of time. Adult female sulcatas can easily produce 90 eggs per year. It is not unusual to see hundreds of hatchlings for sale at reptile shows.

According to Darrell Senneke, director of Tortoise Trust USA, "New owners quickly become aware of the difficulties associated with having a potentially destructive, non-housebroken animal of this size. A fully-grown sulcata can weigh close to 200 pounds and can easily move a piano or walk through a typical house or apartment wall." Senneke says that spurred tortoises grow rapidly, especially in captivity when they are offered many times the amount of food they would normally find in nature. It is not uncommon for a five year old sulcata to weigh 30 pounds or more. At this point they are not even close to half grown and often are already becoming a problem for the owner due to their amazing strength and aggressive behavior.

Susan Tellem, who founded American Tortoise Rescue with her husband Marshall Thompson, says "Many owners assume that when the tortoise becomes a problem, 'zoos will take them.' This is simply not true. Zoos are not interested in cast-off pets." Tellem says that the zoos, instead, refer people to her rescue. She has taken in a dozen just this summer. Based on the number now being sold as compared to just a few years ago, this dozen is the first sprinkle in a coming deluge. Tellem adds that some owners mistakenly think that they can sell the huge animal for a large profit. "There is no market for adult sulcatas," Teliem says, "The only options remaining are to dump the animal in the wild or to give it up for adoption to a rescue group like ours."

Aside from the potential for a slow death by freezing or starving that "dumped" sulcatas face, there are other problems. These include infection of native wildlife with parasites and foreign diseases. This could result in the eradication of already threatened native species. There is also the issue of introduction of yet another non-native species into a precariously balanced ecosystem. Senneke says that the option of placing the animal with a rescue organization or rehaber sounds good to most overwhelmed owners. Unfortunately, of the thousands of sulcata hatchlings sold every year, rescue organizations can only take a few of them once they are huge. "Since the sulcata can live 50 years or more, overcrowded rescues soon will run out of space. Sadly, at that point euthanasia might be the only recourse," says Senneke.

Teliem says that the sale of sulcatas today is similar to the pet trades large-scale sale of iguanas during the early to mid-90s. Many people bought cute baby iguanas, not realizing that they would grow to as much as six feet and become aggressive. Sulcata breeders create problems that other people have to solve.

"The pet industry constantly looks for small, exotic animals with a big price tag," Teliem says. "We've conducted a survey of sulcata owners about what they were told when they purchased their tortoises. Pet store or reptile show -- the answer is the same: "It won't get bigger than its tank."

Tellem and Senneke say that breeders won't turn their backs on an obvious moneymaking machine. "So what we request is simply market-driven economics. People shouldn't buy sulcatas. Pet stores should stop selling them. Reptile shows must have a 'no sulcata' policy. Only then will breeders have no choice but to stop breeding them," the pair agrees.

For more information, contact: American Tortoise Rescue at: turtletesq@aol.com or 800-938-3553, or Tortoise Trust USA at: rednine@earthlink.net or 630-420-4642.