TORONTO, ON, Thursday, August 4, 2016: Hatched on Tuesday, July 26 2016, after an extensively monitored incubation period, the Toronto Zoo is thrilled to announce a baby Burmese star tortoise has successfully hatched. This is the second hatching of a Burmese star tortoise at the Toronto Zoo, the first being in 2014, and the Zoo is one of only a few institutions in North America to have a successful hatching.

The egg was laid December 9, 2015 and was transferred to an incubator by Zoo Keepers in the Indo-Malaya Pavilion. The incubation period in this species is highly variable and has been reported to be anywhere from 81 to 194 days. This wide range is due to a diapause in development, which is state of dormancy where the fertilized egg does not begin developing for a period of time. Diapause is a means to survive unfavorable environmental conditions in the wild. A delay in development means that the egg does not hatch during periods of drought or reduced food availability. This ensures the baby tortoise hatches when conditions are most favourable for survival. Here at the Toronto Zoo we do what is known as 'break diapause' by initially cooling the egg to 18 to 20C for four weeks before beginning the incubation at temperatures of 28 to 30C. This egg hatched 230 days after it was laid.

The Burmese Star tortoise (Geochelone Platynota) is considered one of the most beautiful tortoises in the world and lives in the dry deciduous forests and open valleys and grasslands of Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. The population has undergone a dramatic decline due to mass harvesting for the food market, as they are perceived to have medicinal value, and the illegal pet trade. Currently found only in a national preserve in Myanmar, the Burmese star tortoise is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as critically endangered, and is already considered by many to be functionally extinct in the wild.

The Toronto Zoo is proud to support efforts to save and protect turtles and tortoises around the world as a member of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA). Burmese star tortoise reintroduction is now being planned as a collaborative effort between the TSA and other conservation partners. The goal is to have captive-bred tortoises, like our new hatchling, repatriated to Myanmar to assist our conservation partners in establishing a healthy wild population. The Toronto Zoo has helped make it possible to release head-started tortoises at Minsontaung Wildlife Sanctuary and Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary where 450 tortoises have been repatriated so far.