Experimental translocation (re-inforcement) of the Hermann’s tortoise, Var, France

Summary

Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni), one of Europe's most threatened reptiles and France's only terrestrial chelonian, survives in fragmented, fire-vulnerable populations in the Var region. SOPTOM's Chelonian Conservation and Research Center, working with CNRS, ran an experimental reinforcement in 2013 under a Life+ program to test whether releasing wild-origin rescue tortoises, from injury cases and rehoming operations, into new but degraded historic-range habitat could rebuild weakened populations, comparing spring versus autumn release timing. Two candidate sites within the historic range were assessed against IUCN criteria, but a 2012 survey found badger predation had killed a third of radio-tracked wild tortoises at one site, so the experiment proceeded only at the other, a national nature reserve previously damaged by a 1979 fire. After health screening for Mycoplasma and herpesvirus, 12 tortoises from Var source populations more than 10 km from the release site were hard-released among a resident population in spring 2013 and radio-tracked alongside resident and control groups. Over the following four months, released tortoises showed no decline in body condition, no mortality, no homing behavior, and thermoregulation and movement patterns typical of the species, with observed mating between released and resident animals and several females laying eggs. A parallel autumn release was planned to compare timing effects. The project rates itself Successful, citing the tortoises' rapid habitat adaptation and the lack of any disturbance to the resident population.