Good News Network · 17 hours ago

Passionate 'Tortoise Guardians' Help Critically-Endangered Giant Tortoise Slowly Return to India

In the remote Indian state of Nagaland, young people who once hunted Asia's largest tortoise species now spend their mornings tracking the animals through community forests, wearing olive t-shirts marked "Tortoise Guardian." A captive breeding program that began with just 13 tortoises-some seized from markets, others donated by villagers who kept them as pets-has produced 114 individuals, half as many as the entire remaining wild population. The program's turning point came "when some villagers voluntarily donated tortoises they had kept as pets in their homes for captive breeding, and the community that once exploited them was sensitized to restore and nurture the species back in the wild from the brink." Where government conservation efforts failed, this collaboration between zoo and tribe has succeeded, creating what one guardian calls a realization of "how important they are in keeping our forest vibrant and alive." Village elders remember childhood days riding these giants along forest paths-a privilege the next generation may yet reclaim.