By james art 
Cape Town, South Africa (AP), a community in South Madagascar, united to save thousands of critically endangered turtles carried away by their asylum and abandoned to swim for their lives in the flood this month caused by a tropical cyclone.
12,000 radiation and arade turtles, which were accommodated at the Lavavolo Turtle Center, were confiscated by illegal wildlife traffic, but were facing a new and unexpected test when the cyclone dickelev struck the southern part of the island in the Indian Ocean in mid -January. Floods with a height of meter (3.2 feet) swallowed the sanctuary and turtles – many of them simply predators in the world of turtles around the age of 25-50 years – were taken away.
The staff of the sanctuary, members of the Community and even police officers united in a rescue operation, gazes through the water with large containers to collect confused turtles. Some rescuers have turned damaged building structures into improvised rafts, to which turtles to ride as they move to find others.
Hery Razafimamonjiraibe, the Madagascar Director of the Turtle Survival Alliance, which manages the reserve, said they were optimistic that they had saved more than 10,000 turtles, although they still had to make an official count. It’s not easy, he said, as turtles can move faster than you think when they want and rarely cooperate.
The rescuers have removed about 700 dead turtles so far, which, according to Razapimamondzhira, have been trapped in stones and debris in the floods.
“Fortunately, most of the turtles managed to emerge,” said Razaphamamondzhwee. “Turtles are actually very good swimmers,” he added. – You have to see them.
While most of the turtles were returned to the asylum, the floods were a blow to the center, which lost much of its infrastructure, said the alliance to survive turtles.
The Lavavolo turtle Center underwent a major overhaul in 2018 when authorities seized a group of 10,000 irradiated turtles from wildlife traffic and had to hold them somewhere. Later, more confiscated turtles arrived.
Most of the turtles in Lavavolo are radiation turtles that are local in Madagascar. They usually grow up to about 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) in length, but are long -lived and can reach 100 years or more.
It is estimated that British researcher Captain James Cook gave an irradiated turtle to the royal family of Tonga in 1777. It is reported that the turtle died in 1966 at the age of 188.
Radiation and auspicious turtles are critically threatened in Madagascar for the destruction of habitats and poaching. They are eaten, but also illegally trafficked to be sold as pets because of the striking yellow and black spots on their shells, said Razaphaimamondzhi.
There have been tens of millions of turtles in Madagascar, the turtle alliance said, but their number is drastically reduced and they have disappeared from 65% of their natural habitat.
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