Mission Statement

The Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group was formed in 1996 to help spread the gruesome news: The world’s turtles are disappearing. Across the planet there are a variety of pressures facing the world’s turtles including habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation, collection for food and folk remedies, collection for the pet trade, and many more pressures.

The lack of cooperation between private keepers and breeders, zoos, and academic institutions has been baffling to many. Though little progress has been made in getting these groups to share specimens and their offspring to enhance genetic diversity among captive turtle populations, this divide has been bridged somewhat by those interested in sharing information concerning husbandry, breeding, and raising hatchlings. We are happy to be involved with the dissemination of information through books, articles, care sheets, and through this website.

We are especially excited about the work of organizations such as the Asian Turtle Consortium, Turtle Survival Alliance, World Chelonian Trust, and Project Bog Turtle, and we are proud partners in their thoughtful and organized programs that will without a doubt save many of the world’s disappearing turtles.

TTPG Director Russ Gurley was a founding member of the American Federation of Herpetoculturists in the 1980s and served as a creative force behind The Vivarium magazine for several years. Russ is a board member of the Asian Turtle Consortium, member of the Turtle Survival Alliance, the World Chelonian Trust, and an active member of several other turtle and tortoise conservation organizations.

He has produced many articles relating to the captive care of aquatic turtles and tortoises. These articles have appeared in journals such as MANOURIA, The Batagur, and on various websites. Russ’s first turtle-related book, The African Spurred Tortoise, Geochelone sulcata, in Captivity, was published in 2002 and has been very well-received. Keeping and Breeding Freshwater Turtles and Baby Turtles became available in August of 2003 and several other exciting projects are in progress.

These works will help fulfill one of the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group’s main goals - to inspire keepers and to spread the most recent information relating to the keeping and breeding of the world’s turtles through articles, books, conferences and workshops, and through our website.