Another species, the radiated tortoise, was once one of the most common animals in the spiny forests of southern Madagascar. “What we witnessed, starting at the end of 2015, and into 2016, was an exponential increase in tortoise poaching,” Lewis said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A ploughshare tortoise being marked to deter smugglers. “When you read the law, people don’t understand why you should punish someone just for a little tortoise,” he said. But when I visited on 2 August, only two of the 20-odd smugglers caught under Project Alarm were still there.

Source: The Guardian February 02, 2018 06:00 UTC