The Angonoka tortoise is the world’s most endangered tortoise.

Endemic to Madagascar, the Angonoka tortoise (also known as the Ploughshare, Madagascar or Madagascar angulated tortoise) is found in only a sixty square kilometre area around Baly Bay and is one of the rarest land tortoises in the world. The terrain and plant life in this area is mixed and includes savannah, bamboo scrub, mangrove swamp and deciduous forest. The tortoises prefer the bamboo thickets.

The Angonoka (Astrochelys yniphora) and the Radiated (Astrochelys radiata) tortoise are the only species in the genus.

Angonoka tortoises are smallish land tortoises that reach around 40 centimetres long and have brown, high-domed shells. Males can weigh over 10 kg with females averaging 8.8 kg. The name “Ploughshare” comes from one of the plates (or scutes) of the lower shell projecting out and up between the front legs (resembling a ploughshare) which male tortoises use when fighting in an attempt to flip the other tortoise over. Fighting mostly occurs during breeding season when females bury up to seven clutches of eggs. These hatch during the rainy season and are left to fend for themselves.

Unfortunately, females only start laying eggs after they reach 15 to 20 years of age, making conservation efforts even more difficult. Fertility rates and hatching success rates mean that only about 4 hatchlings are produced per season per female.

The current population is estimated at 600 individuals and is sadly still decreasing. They are therefore at an extremely high risk of extinction and researchers believe that these tortoises will become extinct in the wild within the next 15 years.

The tortoise’s main predator is the bush pig which was introduced into the area by man. The bush pig eats the tortoise’s eggs and young.

Included in the threats to the tortoise population is their collection for the pet trade (because of their attractive shell colourations) and the popular use of fires to clear grazing land for cattle. Luckily, conservation groups have created firebreaks through controlled fires which have led to the decrease in out of control fires.

Although there has been an increase of enforcement of the restrictions on illegal trade, they have remained in extremely high demand on the global pet market – a fully grown female tortoise was recently estimated to sell for $60,000 on the Asian black market.

Conservationists have even begun engraving their shells with identifying marks to tarnish their most attractive feature and make them less desirable to poachers and collectors. This is a last-chance effort to try and protect them and is not dissimilar to the cutting of a rhino’s horn to make them less attractive to poachers. Engraving needs to be superficial though, no deeper than the keratin layer of the shell, so that it isn’t painful, but it still causes discomfort due to the trauma of the capture, etc., although it is worth it in the long run if it saves their life.

Conservationists have also developed captive breeding programs and conservation plans that include the community around their habitat. Communities around the tortoise’s habitat have started creating firebreaks and proposed the creation of a park to protect the tortoise and the forests.

Even with all of these improvements, close monitoring of the tortoise population and the global pet trade is still essential. As recently as 2013, smugglers were arrested carrying a single bag containing 54 Angonoka tortoises and 21 Radiated tortoises into Thailand. The 54 Angonoka tortoises could be as much as 10% of the world’s population of the species!

23 year old Elitsa Penkova from Bulgaria recently participated in our Forest Conservation volunteer program on Nosy Komba for six months.

“Being part of the forest conservation project on Nosy Komba has allowed me to experience and appreciate some of Madagascar’s tremendous biodiversity. It is incredible – despite its relatively small size, the country holds 5% of the world’s species. What amazes me the most though, is the way Evolution has carved life forms in bizarre and marvellous shapes and colours – unlike anywhere else on Earth – designing them to perfectly blend in with their surroundings.

However, being here for as long as I have, it was inevitable that I would witness one of the country’s major problems – environmental degradation. As one of the world’s poorest countries, its people’s survival depends upon natural resource use. They are forced to live off the land, destroying primary forest for plantations, cutting down trees to make pirogues, which is justified through a need to fish. Native species are being aggressively hunted and collected by people, desperately seeking to provide for their families.

We can’t really blame the Malagasy for what they do, what we can do instead, is go to Madagascar, either as volunteers or tourists, not to see it before it is too late, but to invest in its preservation, even by simply enjoying a one of a kind vacation.

There is no doubt that once in Madagascar, anyone is bound to fall in love with it. I definitely did, and not only because of its ‘million shades of green’, but the Malagasy too – their beauty, their hospitality, and most of all, their ability to enjoy life despite all.”

Take Elitsa’s advice and visit Madagascar before it’s too late. Contact us to find out more about our volunteer programs.

Volunteers participating in either the Forest Conservation Volunteer Programs or Teaching Volunteer Programs will spend 5 days visiting the Ankarana Forest Reserve in Northern Madagascar as part of their adventure tour.

The reserve’s southern entrance is situated in Mahamasina, about 108 kilometres south-west of Antsiranana and about 29 kilometres north-east of Ambilombe. There is also a second entrance near Amboandriky but a 4×4 is required to reach it. Access to the third entrance near Matsaborimanga is very difficult.

The reserve is a small, partially vegetated plateau made up of 150 million year old Jurassic limestone and was created in 1956. The limestone is prone to erosion, causing it to produce both underground rivers (some of which contain crocodiles) and caves. The canyons are forested with dry, deciduous vegetation, many species of which are endemic to the reserve only.

In the west, the plateau ends abruptly in what is known as the “Wall of Ankarana”, a sheer cliff that extends 25 kilometres north to south and rises as high as 280 metres. In the south, the limestone breaks up into separate spires known as tower karst. The harder base rock has been etched into channels and ridges at some places, known as astsingy. The reserve is also home to the Mangily sinkhole which is up to 700 metres across and 140 metres deep with a volume of 25 million m³.

About 100 kilometres of cave passages have been mapped within the plateau. La Grotte d’Andrafiabe is one of the most accessible caves and on its own, comprises at least 8.035 kilometres of horizontal passages. Not only is the cave system here the longest in Madagascar, but possibly also in the whole of Africa.

The diverse wildlife can be viewed by either hiking or 4×4 drive vehicles which can access most of the campsites. Below the plateau, a grassy plain leads to the Indian Ocean.

Visitors to the forest can expect to see various mammals including the fossa, fanaloka, northern ring-tailed mongoose, numerous species of bats and, of course, several different lemurs. According to Bradt’s Madagascar Wildlife, it may be that Ankarana has the highest density of primates in any forest in the world.

Reptiles in the area include various geckos, the Madagascan ground boa and various chameleons which include the world’s largest chameleon, the Oustalet’s chameleon (which can reach 60 centimetres in length).

Bird lovers; be sure to look out for the endangered Madagascan fish eagle. The reserve is also home to several endemic bird species including the Madagascan pygmy kingfisher, Madagascan green pigeon, the greater vasa parrot and 15 of the 16 vanga species. Also look out for raptors such as the Madagascan scops owl and the Madagascan Harrier-hawk.

In the 1980s, expeditions to the reserve started cataloguing the various plants and animals, including fossils of several extinct large lemurs, amongst others. Bird lists were also collated and an interesting aspect of the behaviour of insect eating birds in the reserve was noted. It was reported that several species of these small insect eating birds foraged together in mixed groups. Within each group, the different species would then specialise in how and where they sought their prey. Some species focused on slender branches, others on the trunks. Working together also seems to have provided them with greater protection from their predators.

With so much to see and do in the reserve, the adventure tour is sure to become one of the highlights of your volunteering experience in Madagascar.

Contact us today and book your spot on either the Forest Conservation Volunteer Program or the Teaching Volunteer Program.

The first thing that springs to mind when thinking of conservation and ecotourism in Madagascar is the lemur and the Black Lemur (Eulemur Macaco) is probably the favourite animal of many of our volunteers that have visited the island. Lemurs are found nowhere else in the world and Black Lemurs are to be found only in the north-western parts of Madagascar.

Male Black Lemurs (as the name suggests) are black or a dark chocolate colour with thick fur and long tufts of black hair around the ears.  Females of the species have radically different appearances to males, having led to the belief for many years that they were a completely different species of lemur. Females are lighter brown to chestnut in colour with white bellies and white tufts around the ears. There are actually two species of Black Lemur – the Eulemur macaco which has brown or orange eyes is considered to be vulnerable and Eulemur flavifrons which is critically endangered and is the only primate (other than humans) to have blue eyes.

The Lemur’s primary food is fruit, making up 78% of its diet making them significant agents for seed dispersal. You’ll come across many photos of our volunteers sharing their fruit (especially bananas) with the lemurs around our research centre. They also eat flowers, leaves, fungi and some invertebrates, and during the dry season you will find them feeding on nectar.

Black Lemurs live in groups of 2 to 15 members with more or less equal numbers of males and females, where females are dominant. They are active during the day and night and forage in the upper and middle canopy of the forest at night but in the understory in the day. One of the biggest threats to the lemur is loss of habitat and in degraded areas you will even find them foraging on the ground.

It’s also been noted that Black Lemurs regularly pick up and bite toxic millipedes to force them to release toxins in self-defence and them rub it on themselves to deposit the toxin on their fur. This usually isn’t fatal to the lemurs and we aren’t quite sure why they do it. Some believe the toxin repels other insects while other researchers suggest they do it to achieve a high. When they inhale or ingest enough of the toxin, it inhibits their monoamine oxidase system, resulting in the high. I don’t know about you, but that certainly brings King Julian from Disney’s “Madagascar” to my mind…

Did you Know

The word “Lemur” is actually Latin for “ghost”. They were probably named thus because living so high up in the forest canopy, they were rarely seen but their calls were easily heard from the ground. These calls include a recognition grunt (that sounds more like a duck’s quack) when identifying each other, a cohesion call to keep track of each other, an alarm call to warn of predators and the purr of contentment that babies use when being groomed.

Conservation

The main threat to Madagascar’s lemurs is deforestation for agriculture, firewood and charcoal production, logging and burning to create pastures for cattle. Sadly, they are also hunted for food and captured for the pet trade or for zoos. Black Lemurs also raid crops, which is another reason they are killed.

Madagascar’s unique isolated island evolution makes the island the world’s highest priority for conservation, with new species being discovered all the time. Even as late as the 1980s, two new species of lemurs were discovered. Volunteer programs like our forest conservation program, are vital in the preservation of its wildlife.

So how will ecotourism in Madagascar benefit the Black Lemur?

Given it’s tolerance of people and adaptability to having its habitat disturbed, it has a higher chance of survival in close proximity to humans than it less adaptable cousins, making ecotourism a promising way to preserve safeguard their future.

The worldwide growth in ecotourism is a strong economic incentive for Madagascar to preserve its natural environment. The unique animal life and hot springs offer potential tourist attractions and future jobs. Efforts are now being made to replant steep, barren slopes affected by landslides that are unsuitable for agriculture with fruit trees and to restore channels to revive abandoned rice fields. This will restore the natural habitat of the lemurs whilst also improving the lives of the local farmers – a win-win situation for all.

Can ecotourism provide enough motivation for Madagascar’s people to become a part of the conservation efforts to preserve its biodiversity?