Wasted efforts: why captivity is not the best way to conserve species

International audience Conservation strategies of Malagasy turtles and tortoises are based principally on the captive - breeding of these species, with the ultimate aim of their possible reintroduction in the wild. Given the current precarious conservation status of endemic Malagasy turtle and tortoise species, it is clear that this approach has been a failure. Instead of being used to complement in situ approaches for a number of years captive - breeding efforts have been used as an alternative. It is essential to develop conserva- tion strategies for these species based on empirical data, and not only on the subjective vision of NGOs with a strong interest in ex situ conservation approaches. It is only by fighting the causes of decline of Malagasy chelonian species in the wild that they will be able to be saved.