THE Ploushare Tortoise OF Madagascar

The angonoka tortoise, as the local Madagascans call the ploughshare tortoise, is an especially elegant tortoise with a high-domed golden shell. Reaching an age of well over 100 years, they are found in the wild only on Madagascar, off the south-eastern coast of Africa. Reptile collectors from around the world are frantic to obtain living specimens. However, the interest of Asians is limited to the shell, which is ground into a powder and is considered by many to be an aphrodisiac. Baly Bay National Park in Madagascar is the last natural refuge for the ploughshare tortoise.