Turtles in Trouble
• The IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, in conjunction with the Turtle Conservation Fund and the Turtle Conservation Coalition, has released four lists of the Top 25+ most endangered species of tortoises and freshwater turtles in the world.
The fourth expanded list was published 2018 by the Turtle Conservation Coalition (TCC), an informal alliance of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), Turtle Conservancy (TC), Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF), Conservation International (CI), Chelonian Research Foundation (CRF), and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The third updated and ranked list was compiled by the Turtle Conservation Coalition (TCC) in 2011. The TCC is an informal alliance of the following turtle- and conservation-focused organizations currently working together on behalf of chelonian and biodiversity conservation: the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF), the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), the Turtle Conservancy / Behler Chelonian Center (TC/BCC), Chelonian Research Foundation (CRF), Conservation International (CI), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG). (click here to access TCC 2011 list)
The second updated and ranked list was compiled by the TFTSG in 2007. Following Group-wide consultation and review, 25 species were ranked as the most endangered species of tortoises and freshwater turtles in the world, exchanging 4 species from the original 2003 Top 25 list and providing a rough hierarchical listing of which species are currently in the most trouble. This new Global Top 25 List was first presented at the TSA/TFTSG 5th Annual Symposium on Conservation and Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises held in Atlanta in July 2007, and is documented here. (click here to access TFTSG 2007 list)
The first list, the Top 25 Turtles on Death Row: The World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Turtles – 2003, was released by the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF) (a partnership of TFTSG, Conservation International, and the Turtle Survival Alliance) in 2003. (click here to access TCF 2003 list)