Movement patterns of soft-released, translocated Egyptian tortoises

Abstract

Dispersal from the release site and high mortality are two main factors that contribute to low retention of hard-released translocated wildlife. A soft-release translocation is a method that may increase the likelihood of translocation success because individuals are forced to acclimatize and become familiar to the new release site prior to the translocation. The objective of this study was to compare the movement patterns and retention rate of resident and translocated Egyptian tortoises that were translocated just prior to the start of the aestivation season and therefore were forced to aestivate at the release site (a forced in-activity soft-release). The retention rate of translocated tortoises, the proportion of tortoises that remained at the release site and alive by the end of the study, was 71% (5/7) compared to a retention rate of 100% for resident tortoises. There was no significant difference in the minimum convex polygon area, total distance moved, or the number of relocations during the activity season between resident and translocated tortoises. Our results suggest that a forced in-activity soft release consisting of translocating Egyptian tortoises just before the aestivation season may be effective in minimizing dispersal from the release site.