Seychelles giant tortoise numbers hit record 180,000 in conservation triumph

No século XIX, a exploração dos animais significou que restavam menos de 1. 000 tartarugas Aldabra na ilha. Fotografia: cinoby/Getty Ver imagem em tela cheia No século XIX, a exploração dos animais significou que restavam menos de 1.

Prefira o Guardian no Google Uma pesquisa sobre a maior população de tartarugas gigantes de livre circulação do mundo revelou que a espécie, antes ameaçada, está prosperando.

A population of Aldabra giant tortoises lives on an island in Seychelles called Aldabra Atoll.

The most recent survey, led by Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the University of Exeter, revealed there were approximately 180,000 tortoises living on the island.

Esta é a maior cifra já registrada para a espécie e ultrapassa em muito a população humana das Seychelles.

The new figure was obtained by a team who analysed five years of tortoise counts between 2018 and 2022. It is the first update since a widely cited figure of 100,000 tortoises from the late 1990s.

Aldabra Atoll is one of only two places in the world where giant tortoises are found in the wild, with a much smaller population living in the Galápagos.

Dr. Frauke Fleischer‑Dogley, CEO da SIF, disse: “Mais de 180. 000 tartarugas gigantes andam livremente em nosso atol, prova do que um compromisso de longo prazo com a conservação pode alcançar.”.

This is wonderful news for Seychelles, for the world, and for everyone who has worked to protect Aldabra.”.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Há mais tartarugas gigantes no Atol de Aldabra do que humanos. Fotografia: Avalon.red/Alamy O estudo, publicado na revista científica *Ecology and Evolution*, constatou que a população estava relativamente estável neste período, com uma estimativa máxima de quase 183.

In the 19th century, exploitation of the animals meant there were fewer than 1,000 Aldabra tortoises left on the island, but a recovery programme led to it becoming a strict nature reserve in 1981 and a Unesco site in 1982.

Researchers are now saying it is one of the greatest conservation success stories of the Indian Ocean, with the new study confirming it. “Aldabra’s giant tortoise monitoring programme is one of the longest running in the region, but the atoll’s dense vegetation makes counting tortoises genuinely difficult in places,” said Dr Nancy Bunbury, one of the study’s co-authors.

Despite the good news, the study’s authors say that vigilance is essential. Aldabra’s climate is changing, with longer and more frequent droughts predicted to reduce the shade and food available to tortoises, while rising sea levels threaten low-lying parts of the atoll.

As histórias mais importantes do planeta. Tenha todas as notícias ambientais da semana – o bom, o ruim e o essencial.

The study authors say invasive mammals remain a threat including feral cats and black rats that prey on tortoise eggs and hatchlings. The planned eradication of these remaining invasive mammals, the authors say, could lift the last barriers to further growth of the population and help it withstand future climate pressures.

Read more“These results are great news for the tortoises and testament to the fantastic work done in the field,” said Dr Dave Hudson, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall campus.