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These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance

Some of the most threatened animals might not survive in their current habitat because of climate change. Researchers are testing a controversial strategy to relocate them before it’s too late — starting with Australia’s rarest reptile.
  1. Clare Watson

    1. Clare Watson is a freelance writer in Wollongong, Australia.

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Nicola Mitchell inspecting tortoises that had been previously released in the park.

Nicki Mitchell holds two western swamp tortoises that are part of trials in a strategy called assisted migration. Credit: Matthew Abbott/New York Times/Redux/eyevine

In a remote national park on Australia’s most southwestern tip, a lone radio tower stands above a quiet wetland. Every five seconds, it collects signals from a few dozen young tortoises hiding out beneath the glassy waters. The tiny tortoises don’t journey far, but researchers are tracking their every move. The fate of a species — one of the most endangered in the world — might depend on these data.

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Nature 621, 22-25 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02732-0

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 20 September 2023: An earlier version of this News feature misstated the degree of damage to the tortoises’ habitat. Ninety per cent of the habitat was burnt, but not destroyed. Also, Nicki Mitchell sees trialling assisted colonization as a better alternative to watching wild, not captive, populations dwindle to extinction.

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