I am a British biologist resident in Peru since 1999, where I manage a 1300 hectare private conservation area of lowland tropical rainforest in the Tambopata district. I recently became aware of an issue here concerning yellow footed tortoises, when I noted extreme overcrowding in two local mini-zoos. In one, for example, I counted 28 large tortoises housed with 16 taracaya river turtles in an area 9 X 6 m. It seems these tortoises are donated by well-wishers who find them somewhere inappropriate, or they are brought by the ecological police in their effort to control the illegal pet trade. New arrivals have nowhere to be housed other than adding to the collections.

Hello Laurel,