International Conservationist

When the Turtle Survival Alliance, an international organization, put out the call for help to save 10,000 radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) seized by authorities from an abandoned house in Madagascar, Dr. Justin Rosenberg (’13) answered the call. Rosenberg was working at White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Fla., as part of his residency in zoological medicine at the University of Florida, when he joined the rescue effort during the fifth wave of responders. “I oversaw the rehabilitation of the tortoises at the original facility in Ifaty, Madagascar, where the endangered animals were brought,” Rosenberg said. During his three-week stay, Rosenberg cared for approximately 2,000 animals, performing daily examinations and treatments for any animals that were sick. “Many of the animals were malnourished and dehydrated,” he said. “Poachers kept the tortoises in a house – approximately 10,000 of them,” Rosenberg said. “They were destined for either the food trade or illegal pet market.”;