{"id":7289,"date":"2024-05-02T14:28:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turtlesurviva1.wpenginepowered.com\/news\/turtle-of-the-week-arakan-forest-turtle-copy-copy\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T14:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:31:07","slug":"turtle-of-the-week-arakan-forest-turtle-copy-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/turtle-of-the-week-arakan-forest-turtle-copy-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"Species Spotlight: Flat-tailed Tortoise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Meet the grumpy-faced Flat-tailed Tortoise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This critically endangered tortoise is native to Madagascar. It features a long, slightly-domed carapace with black and gold patterns, and, of course, its flattened tail. Staying small, it only reaches 5-6 inches in length. In Madagascar, it is known as Kapidolo. This little tortoise bears similarities to a fellow Malagasy native, the Spider Tortoise. Both are in the genus Pyxis but actually reside in different, isolated habitats. Due to the Flat-tailed Tortoise\u2019s captivating shell patterns and small size, it is targeted for poaching for the pet trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We work to protect this species through confiscations of illegal poaching, treatment and rehabilitation, captive breeding, community outreach and awareness in Madagascar, and establishing the in-range rescue facility and breeding colony in Kirindy Private Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Show your support for critically endangered turtles like the Flat-tailed Tortoise by celebrating Turtle Month with us! You can learn more about our Madagascar program and ways to support us <strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">here.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pyxis-1-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pyxis-1-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pyxis-1-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pyxis-1-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pyxis-1.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>A\u00a0Flat-tailed Tortoise. Photo by Herilala Randriamahazo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pictured:<\/strong>\u00a0Flat-tailed Tortoise (<em>Pyxis planicauda<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Countries of Origin:<\/strong>\u00a0Madagascar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Habitat:\u00a0<\/strong>Closed-canopy deciduous dry forest<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wild Population:<\/strong>\u00a0Declining; less than 10,000<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>IUCN Red List Status:<\/strong>\u00a0 Critically Endangered<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Threats:<\/strong> Habitat loss; human-induced brush fires; poaching for the pet trade<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Header image by Viktor Mislan.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet the grumpy-faced Flat-tailed Tortoise! This critically endangered tortoise is native to Madagascar. It features a long, slightly-domed carapace with black and gold patterns, and, of course, its flattened tail. Staying small, it only reaches 5-6 inches in length. In Madagascar, it is known as Kapidolo. This little tortoise bears similarities to a fellow Malagasy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-species-spotlights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Species Spotlight: Flat-tailed Tortoise - Turtle Survival Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/turtle-of-the-week-arakan-forest-turtle-copy-copy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Species Spotlight: Flat-tailed Tortoise - Turtle Survival Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet the grumpy-faced Flat-tailed Tortoise! 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