Book Review: Turtles of the World

When I started off in zoos, I was a reptile keeper at a southern zoo with a large reptile collection.  My greatest source of frustration back then was the incredible difficulty I had in finding information about the species in my care (many of which I had never even heard of before starting there).  What little information I could find on many species was about their captive care; little at all was known about their natural history (which baffled me – shouldn’t the one inform the other?).

I would have loved to have had a book like Turtles of the World, by Franck Bonin, Bernard Devaux, and Alain Dupre (translated by Peter C. H. Pritchard) back then.  It is an excellent reference book, providing not only an overview of turtles, tortoises, and terrapins in general, but a detailed description of each of the world’s species, organized by family.  It is by far the most comprehensive, complete work on chelonians that I have ever seen.  There are, of course, some species for which much data is still not known, but the authors do a good job of providing what is there.  Data for each species can be found in subspecies: distribution (map included), description, natural history, and protection.  The photographs are excellent.

If there was one thing that irked me slightly about the book, it was the occasional pot-shot taken at zoos.  The authors suggest that zoos do not contribute as much to chelonian conservation as they seem  to think they do, and goes on to suggest that they may contribute to the threats for some species by encouraging over-collection from wild populations.  I can’t agree that this is a major threat to tortoises and turtles in the wild – over-collection for private collections, perhaps, for food and “medicinal” purposes, certainly.  Responsible zoos do plenty to help protect endangered turtles and tortoises; evidence: the Turtle Survival Alliance.  I can agree, however, that there has been perhaps too much focus on conserving turtles through captive breeding, seemingly writing off the wild populations as doomed.  A complete solution for protecting endangered chelonions involves protection of wild habitats and wild populations, which captive breeding and reintroduction used as needed.

At any rate, a little snark seems a small price to pay for such thorough, detailed, well-research information.  This book could prove extremely valuable for any reptile keeper or enthusiast who wishes to know more about the natural history of their animals.  The authors had an advantage in the relatively small number of turtle and tortoise species.  Hopefully, some extremely ambitious herpetologists will someday attempt a similar work on the snakes and lizards of the world.

Turtles of the World at Amazon.com