Bibliomania!

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The book begins with a preface describing the status of living tortoises. Despite the dire descriptions, the author emphasizes that there is still hope for the long term survival of most tortoise species. The first couple of chapters define tortoises and discuss the variety of their biology and natural history. The third chapter outlines many of the threats to tortoises, such as habitat destruction, disease, and incidental killing (e.g., road kill). All along the way the author offers good examples using a variety of tortoise species and situations. The fourth chapter, entitled, "Eating Tortoises" was quite enlightening for me. I had no idea what a huge, world-wide problem the consumption of turtles is, or how massive the effect of consumption is on global tortoise populations. Giant tortoises that live on islands are the subject of chapter 5, with both the causes of their decline as well as their conservation discussed in detail. Finally, the problem of captive tortoises is discussed in chapter 6. From the desire to have the really rare tortoise to the seemingly benign desire to simply have any pet tortoise, the author covers a wide variety of issues associated with the captive trade in tortoises and its effect on wild populations. Chapter 7 offers potential solutions by highlighting some successful conservation strategies. This is followed by a final chapter of hope that people will change their ways to protect tortoises. The author also includes some useful appendices: extremes of the tortoise world; tortoises on the brink of extinction; tortoise species; and further reading.

Overall I found this book interesting and informative. I am not well versed with most of the species the author discusses, but I was working on Desert Tortoises in 1988-1989 when the western Mojave populations were emergency listed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Here I found a couple of minor errors in the book. The author indicated that captive desert tortoises were released into the wild as a result of the emergency listing: "When tortoise owners learned that the pets they had taken from the wild years earlier were now on the endangered species list, many responded in the best-intended way possible. They put the tortoise in the car, drove him back out to the desert, and released him with a sense of having done something good in the world.... Within a few years of the initial listing of desert tortoises as threatened, biologists began to find wild tortoises that were sick."

In fact, upper respiratory disease syndrome was one of the major factors in getting the species listed, not a result of the listing. Personally, I think it is hopeful to think many people would take the time to drive back out to the desert to release their captive tortoise. I am sure it happened, both before and after the species was listed as threatened, but I am somewhat dubious that the listing had much effect on the number of tortoises released.

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