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Wildlife
- Close
- - We protect wildlife in Britain and around the world by bringing our most threatened species back from the brink of extinction. We do this through ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
Wild places
- Close
- - Some habitats contain such a richness of life that we need to protect them at all odds. We are working to preserve ancient woodlands, orchards and wood pastures and parklands, as well as the countless species they support.
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- - Everything we do is based on scientific evidence. We gather this through surveys, which you can take part in, and by awarding research grants to the most inspiring scientists worldwide. This evidence guides our conservation efforts and is shared through our events and publications.
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- - People’s Trust for Endangered Species was set up in 1977 to save our wildlife. We are governed by a board of volunteer trustees and our team of staff are passionate about protecting endangered species and places.
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- - We strive to bring our most threatened species in the UK and around the world back from the brink of extinction. Our successes come from ground-breaking research, practical conservation and education, all with the help of our supporters.
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- - There are so many ways you can help save endangered species. Fancy taking part in a survey, joining us on a wildlife event or becoming a regular supporter?
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- - Support our work in our shop with a range of charity gifts, home-ware, cards and more. 100% of the profits go directly to help wildlife both in the UK an overseas.
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- - There is nothing natural about the alarming rate at which we are losing animals and their homes. It is absolutely avoidable. We can stop the loss of our wildlife – but we need your support. You can act now by choosing to give to our cause. Thank you.

Home // Research grants // Our worldwide projects // Turtles in Colombia

Turtles in Colombia

The Dahl's toad-headed turtle is only found in the forest streams of Colombia and is now tragically globally endangered.

Funding for this project has now finished

The problem

The turtle is named after Swedish-born Colombian scientist George Dahl

Dahl’s toad-headed turtle is sadly threatened with extinction because of the decline of the quality of its forest home and its limited distribution. The tropical dry forest where they are found has been subjected to increasing destruction, fragmentation and alteration for human activities. Little is known about where the turtles live and they are not formally protected across their narrow range meaning a devastating ongoing loss of the species.

The solution

We are funding the Turtle Survival Alliance and Wildlife Conservation Society to produce biological information about this poorly known endemic species. This can then be used to implement urgent conservation actions on the ground to protect the turtles.

Over the last five years we have been monitoring a population of Dahl’s toad-headed turtles, studying habitat requirements and movement patterns using VHF Radio telemetry. These studies have allowed us to understand more about what the turtles need to thrive and what areas to urgently protect. We have also been working with the community, particularly with kids in public schools to raise awareness about the endemic character of this species and the importance of its dry forest home.

The next phase of our work will start with restoring the habitat along the streams in one of the few known populations of the species. The second main objective is to find further populations of turtles as predicted by our earlier studies. This will help us to improve our understanding of its global abundance, determine threats to remaining turtles and identify good areas for conservation.

This ongoing work is slowly but surely helping us to save this wonderfully unique turtle.

Latest news

Read the latest project update

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