Conservation of the World's Rarest Tortoise

The angonoka (Geochelone yniphoru) is a large (45 cm straight carapace length) tortoise restricted to a patchy habitat of secondary forest and savannas within a 3-km radius of the Bay of Bali in northwestern Madagascar. Its large size, unusual morphology, biogeographical history and rarity combine to make the species scientifically interesting, but its rarity and inaccessibility make it difficult to study. Although no accurate estimate of the total number of angonoka is available (Curl 1986), several censuses have resulted in estimates of some 100 to 400 animals remaining in the wild, with approximately 50 additional individuals kept by private individuals in Madagascar (Juvik et al. 1981, Curl et al. 1985). The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists the angonoka as one of the twelve most threatened animal species in the world (Anonymous 1985), in “imminent danger of extinction” (Groombridge 1982), and it is listed on “Appendix I” by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is legally protected under Malagasy law by the Service des Eaux et ForCts.