CARAPAX RE-OPENS, CUSTODY TO THE COMUNITA' MONTANA REVOKED
4 June: On the 4th of May 2009 the Court of Grosseto revoked a previous decision to give the Comunita' Montana legal custody over the buildings within Carapax. The judge accepted R.A.NA's complaints, as presented by its lawyers Roberto Fivizzani (Grosseto) and Gaetano Verdirame (Udine). The Comunita' Montana had arbitrarily extended its control over the entire Center including its activities, its structures and its animals, which instead were to remain responsibility of R.A.NA. Furthermore, although it had guaranteed that its scientific experts from Pisa would take care of the animals, it had never proceeded to buy animal feed; only in the last few days, following our accusations, did it purchase 40kgs of cat food... the Center actually requires 1200kgs/month. In the past 50 days the Comunita' Montana had paid no attention to the animals and hindered the work of our staff, leading to 18 confirmed animal deaths. Its incompetence was also confirmed by a letter sent to Carapax from its director. The Visitor Center has also deteriorated during this period and the lives of many animals have been put at risk. The organization ATHENA ONLUS, which manages CARAPAX's educational and ecotouristic aspects, has been forced to lay off 3 staff members because the Comunita' Montana has forbidden entrance to visitors, reducing our income and causing Massa Marittima to miss out on 5000 tourists. The Comunita' Montana has also systematically slandered CARAPAX and its staff in the press. It even denounced staff members for stealing animals, while actually they were simply moving them elsewhere for health reasons (and the authorities had already been notfied, both in Italy and abroad). For all these reasons, CARAPAX will press charges against the Comunita' Montana, its president and its administrators.The Court has now transferred the role of caretaker from the president of the Comunita' Montana to Dr. Marco Fiori, a high ministerial officer. In turn, he will be relying on us and our highly qualified staff to take care of the animals. It will be up to voters to decide if, in the future, there is still room in Maremma for our beautful Center.
CHELONIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE 402 South Central Avenue Oviedo, Florida 32765, USA Tel/Fax: 407-366-4020 Chelonianresearch.wordpress.com
To whom it may concern:
I am taking the liberty of writing to you in my capacity as the President of the Chelonian Research Institute, a not-for-profit corporation in Oviedo, Florida, USA, dedicated to the study and conservation of the tortoises and turtles of the world. I am also the former Co-Chairman of the Freshwater Turtle and Tortoise Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. My curriculum vitae is attached.
The issue in question is the status and future of the European Centre for Chelonian Conservation, usually known as CARAPAX, and located in Massa Maritima, Tuscany, Italy.
The administrative and political framework in which the facility operates at present is complex, but I am convinced that the founding of CARAPAX was properly and legally undertaken when it was launched by the EU Commission in 1989, with input and involvement of the Belgian herpetological society RANA and technical liaison with Ghent University. Many of the expert staff are from Belgium, Germany, France, although the facility is located in Italy. The resident animals themselves (mostly tortoises and turtles) have complex ownership arrangements with involvement of institutional owners in Spain, Tunisia, Greece, France, etc. These owners, as well as over 3000 private individuals, have expressed their support for, and trust of, the CARAPAX facility to look after their animals professionally and properly. By any criterion, it is a functioning international operation, both in terms of legal establishment and in terms of its multinational fields of operation.
I have visited the CARAPAX facility myself, and I was extremely impressed. The Scientific Director, Donato Balasina, has made this project the principal theme of his life for twenty years, and all turtle conservationists are greatly indebted to him for his tireless efforts. It is also noteworthy that, from the beginning, the work of developing captive breeding colonies of all of the isolated, distinct populations of tortoises and turtles in south-central Europe has been carried out with ongoing liaison with outside scientists and specialists. This is a highly professional operation.
For these reasons, I urge you to use all your power and influence to call off the unacceptable seizure of the CARAPAX facility and the expulsion of the staffers who have kept this operation functioning for two decades. This change is not needed, and the results are likely to be very harmful.
I ask this for two reasons:
i) It is the right thing to do on grounds of respect for those who have labored long years at CARAPAX and have become very expert at what they do. In the business world, we are used to the concept of “hostile takeover” of one business by another; legal perhaps, but it remains a predatory concept. We in the scientific and conservation world also sometimes detect jealous eyes upon us when we found, create, build, and operate important conservation projects in a sustainable fashion. The goal of the invaders in such cases is not necessarily financial; instead, they utilize political power to short-cut through the early “growth years” of a facility, and go straight to the point where they claim success in the ownership of a mature, established, sustainable operation. The truth is that they have seized and built upon the efforts of others, congratulating themselves for an operation that they did not create, and claiming success that has not been earned.
There is a short poem in English on this subject:
The heights by great men won and kept Were not attained by sudden flight; But they, while their companions slept Were toiling upward through the night.
ii) Abrupt change in husbandry techniques or in successful incubation protocols should be avoided. If captive turtles and tortoises are reproducing successfully, nothing should be changed.
Those who keep extensive collections of live turtles and tortoises learn to identify the idiosyncrasies of the animals in their charge. New keepers and custodians need to serve an apprenticeship by which they can learn from the experience of the veteran staff, and introduce subtle husbandry improvements gradually and only when necessary. Many curators can tell stories about how change was brought about too fast, and seemingly healthy animals may be mysteriously dead one morning without warning, even when the new captive conditions might appear, to the human eye, to be better, or more luxurious, than before.
It is also a fact that the factors that bring about successful captive reproduction of tortoises may be so subtle that they are hard to document. For example, in the USA, captive reproduction of Galapagos giant tortoises was achieved for several successive years at San Diego Zoo and also in the Honolulu Zoo; but the breeding faltered subsequently in both facilities, for reasons that were simply not clear. In the Galapagos Islands, the stud male known as “Diego” (one of only three known adult male Española tortoises) has fathered almost 2000 young during his years at the Charles Darwin Research Station; whereas in the next enclosure, the last Pinta tortoise (Lonesome George) has failed to reproduce at all despite the presence of two females of an adjacent island population for the last 23 years. Husbandry is an art as well as a science, and the skills are not learned overnight!
Prof. Dr. Peter C. H. Pritchard Director Chelonian Research Institute Florida
New Attacks against Carapax and its personnel!
27 May: The Comunità Montana and Mr. Zago, are interfering more and more with the welfare of our animals, letting ONLY ONE person enter and ONLY in the morning. It is needless to say that this impedes totally the care and raising of the animals.
Indeed, we have had the first fatalities already, among which are several marsh turtles, Emys and Graptemys (see photo).
At this point we have filed another complaint,and the local Comandant of the Carabinieri (Military Police), Salvatore Tiralongo, has suggested to Mr. Zago that he allow the whole team of the 5 Carapax curator personnel to enter and transport more than a hundred kilos of feed for storks, turtles, exotic tortoises and so forth in two vehicles.One is reminded that from the beginning of the sequestration, that is, from April 17, the Comunità Montana was commited to the expenses and the care inherent for the animals. Instead, in order not to compromise the lives of our animal guests, we have provided these ourselves, noting that the so-called “ultra-experts” of the Comunità Montana, in the space of 1 month, have brought to Carapax only two sacks of cat food, which in a pure state is not suitable for turtles and tortoises, but rather for cats, of which there are none at CARAPAX.Upon arrival at Carapax, the guards of the Comunità Montana have created new problems. They have blockaded the vehicle of one of the curators, preventing the giving of fodder to the animals.In various structures the locks have been changed by the Comunità Montana, depriving RANA of the possession of the animals and appropriating the goods and animals of others. Having ascertained the impossibility of feeding the animals and of making the necessary checks, or of refilling the water-troughs, noting with bitterness the various floating cadavers of the turtles, we have called the carabinieri to verify the offense of continuous and flagrant maltreatment of the animals on the part of the appointed custodian, that is Mr. Zago, in violation of and without respect for his custodial duties. The lawyers have presented us with the costs sustained or to pay in the order of approximately 24,000 Euros for the period of the sequestration, which otherwise would have been met by the admission charges of the public, who from the 17th of April have not been able to enter.Among these bills is one for almost 6,000 Euros for the furnishing of fodder, non-recoverable on the Italian market, for all the aquatic turtles, which from tomorrow will not have anything more to eat.
We hope that the Comunità Montana and the Region of Tuscanyare aware of the enormous error which they are commiting and of the continuous cruelty imposed on thousands of innocent and defenceless creatures.
24 May: Xavier the curator, having 2 witnesses (the guards of the Comunità Montana, who followed him all day as if they were his shadow), must unfortunately bear witness that in basin VI the two snapping turtles (in any case under sequstration by the CFS since July of 2007) were missing.A complaint indicating theft by unknown parties has been filed.
23 May: During an inspection of the CARAPAX incubator, the curator Michel Charlier saw that drawers with eggs had been manhandled by unknown parties and that in fact 1 egg of the most rare Testudo kleinmanni hadbeen broken on purpose! (see photo). The egg was fertilised, and not broken by itself but truly shattered by outside force, and within the egg were granules of agroperlite used as a base for incubation.Remember that from these eggs 2 babies had already been born in December of 2008. RANA has filed a complaint against unknown parties for maltreatment of animals.
22 May: arrogance has no limits: Messers Zuffi and Barbuti, allowed themselves not only to enter within the enclosure without the minimal respect for hygienic requirements, but also carried away animals.Both of them have been reported for theft of animals which are the property of RANA!
22 May: 16.00: Mr. Zuffi, who in his mail has spread the lie that the aquatic turtles had for certain not eaten for a considerable length of time, carries 2 sacks of pure cat food (ca 20 Kg?), and throws them into Louisiana Lake, without knowing (or wanting to know) that these turtles were fed the day previous, in the presence of the guard of the Comunità Montana and of the scientific director of CARAPAX and of the curator, Michel Charlier! Thus continue these dirty games of overbearing people to the detriment of the animals.How disgusting!
On the 19th of May the judge of the Civil Court reaffirms to our astonishment the prolongation of the seizure and orders an enquiry into the registration and very existence of the Belgium RANA, as well as that of the Foundation RANA International.
From 13 May, President Zago ordered by letter the imposition of an “office timetable” (From 7:00 until 12:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00) for entering CARAPAX with effect for the curators, veterinarians and technicians. This timetable, unfortunately, is not really applicable for those charged with caring for the animals.Moreover the same Zago “orders” that no more than two people can be present at any given time to look after the animals. In this event the judge’s orders are not being followed, and in fact Zago is materially impeding the undertaking of even the most minimal care of the animals!
Moreover this situation prevents our staff from ascertaining if the biologists authorised by the Comunità Montanaindeed carry out their observations of the structures where the animals live (or whether they are doing something else, and do not want any witnesses?)
Obviously the RANA, concessionaire of the land, and executor of the CARAPAX project has denounced Mr. Zago for premeditated ill-treatment of the animals!Ah, we forgot: the 2 French associates, that have come since 2008, from Village des Tortues, that is, our French equivalent, will thus have a beautiful memory of the hospitality of our country. The two have sent a letter of protest to the French Ambassador in Italy.
In the following days, on several occasions Mr. Marco Zuffi, without infroming anyone, has been seen jumping over the fences, in the area where we keep the Testudo graeca, property of TORMED, without taking account of the warning made by telephone telling the guards not to allow anyone to enter without the consent and company of the curator and to ALWAYS USE THE BOOTS THAT ARE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE STAINLESS STEEL CONTAINER IN THE FENCE! (see photo). Complaints for maltreatment of the animals have been filed against both of them by RANA.
The night between 11 and 12 May, coming back from their day off, CARAPAX curator Xavier and its friend and voluntary technician Thomas, saw themselves “accompanied” by the guards of the Comunità Montana (and for those who do not know it is NOT a police force) to the CARAPAX farmhouse where they lodge.
During their nocturnal inspection tour, the 2 boys were worried because the 6 (!) guards of the Comunità Montana went in the direction of the storks, a zone forbidden to all when dark, as the storks panic and take flight and crash against any object, not being able to see in the dark. Alerted to this fact, the scientific director of CARAPAX, Donato Ballasina, quickly called the caretaker of the grounds, that is, the President of the Comunità Montana, Giancarlo Zago, who has denied all, asserting that its guards were alone with the 2 boys and not with the storks, in accordance with his orders to his staff.
Wanting to make his last inspection Thomas Soulat, exiting from the house, had the road blocked by a guard, who wished to constrain him to remain inside, threatening him with a stick and then, menacing him with his pistol! At that point we called the police, who stated that it was impossible for them to enter and that for the CARAPAX associates it was impossible to exit. We immediately filed a complaint against this guard for his threatening behavior, and against Mr. Zago for sequestration of persons!
Letter of support from the University of Ghent, where the idea of the Charles darwin Station was launched half a century ago and on which experience the CARAPAX centre is based,
To whom it may concern
I am writing this letter in relation to the status and future of
Carapax, the EUROPEAN Centre for COnservation of Chelonia
IN MASSAMARITIMA, TUSCANY
The centre was founded with the aid of the European Community in 1989, based on a project promoted by the then Belgian and later International society RANA (current President Dr. Bram Rammeloo). Soon after its creation the centre was welcomed by the international community of conservationists and in particular by the herpetologists. There was and indeed still is a great need for centers that care for and try to breed endangered species.
The people who started Carapax, Donato Ballasina as scientific director, and Veerle Vandepitte as educational director, have devoted their lives to this centre. They not only cared for the animals, but organized educational work sessions for university students (e.g. with the GhentUniversity), collaborated with foreign specialists from several European countries (and so created a reliable network), set up breeding programs (in which they are internationally known for their expertise), etc.
As a regular visitor of Tuscany, I also visited Carapax. I was greatly impressed by what these people have achieved with very limited resources. Indeed, during my career as a biologist, I have seen many places throughout the world and visited comparable centers involving various endangered species in Australia, South Africa and the Galapagos, but there are few that impressed me so much as the Carapax centre. Most of those I came across had far more facilities and funding, and were actively supported by official authorities.
Just back from a trip abroad, I have now heard and read about something I could never imagine it would happen:
the seizure of the Carapax facility and the expulsion of the staff!!
How is this possible? How comes that a centre which is an example for others in the way it is functioning is seized? Why are people who have given the best of themselves during almost 20 years are now expulsed from the premises? Who can claim something that was built up and brought to success by others? And who has the expertise to continue their work?
The seizure of the Carapax centre and the expulsion of the staff are a human drama and a disaster for the animals in the centre. I hope the responsible authorities of Tuscany will seriously reconsider this decision, so that the centre can continue its work for the benefit of the endangered animals, the community of conservationists and scientists and, last but not least for the reputation of Tuscany not only as a beautiful, but also as a hospitable region.
Prof. Dr. August Coomans
Biology Department, GhentUniversity
Member of the RoyalAcademy for Science and Arts of Belgium
P.S. Please excuse me for writing this letter in English, although I am learning Italian, my knowledge of it is as yet insufficient.
Our answer to recent news articles
For the benefit of all friends of CARAPAX, RANA Foundation would like to specify the following:
In 1989 the EU gave RANA Belgium the task of creating a center for the protection of turtles, with the following goals: - create an educational center open to the general public; - attend to the recovery, protection, breeding and re-introduction into nature of Mediterranean turtles; - perform scientific research.
Thus CARAPAX was born. Its name, logo and methodology are registered trademarks in Den Haag and Madrid, numbers 0616009 e 0889311.
From 1992 various organizations have collaborated with CARAPAX, including both private and public entities. In particular this has included the loan of turtles and other reptiles, for breeding or educational purposes. These animals always come from private collections, never from nature: this is one of CARAPAX's basic principles. The responsibility for taking care of these animals is RANA's.
Recently, the Court of Grosseto ruled that the President of the Comunita' Montana, Mr Zago, should become care-taker of the buildings within CARAPAX Center. It did not, however, give him responsability over the other structures nor over the animals. The Comunita' Montana proceeded to change the lock on the entry-gate to Carapax. This interfered with CARAPAX' and RANA's mission to take care of the animals inside the Center. For example, CARAPAX staff has been working for over 15 years with the veterinary A. Bacci in Fonterotonda. It is normal routine for them to take animals, whenever necessary, to his clinic to receive medical attention which cannot be delivered within the Center. In no way can this be considered theft or illegal movement of animals. This vital activity was however recently hampered when the locks were changed.
The current situation
Based upon such arguments, RANA appealed to the Court. The Court accepted to suspend its previous sentence until the appeal takes place, on May 12 2009. Until then, RANA has received permission to continue to take care of the animals in the Center. However, once again the Comunita' Montana has tried to hamper daily activities, by only allowing 2 (out of 7) staff members to enter the Center, trying to enforce office hours, and not allowing staff members who live in the buildings to continue to do so. One of the staff members was even threatened physically, with a stick and a gun, by some of the Comunita' guards. CARAPAX called the Carabinieri, but could not then let them in because the locks had been changed.
Analogous behaviour has been exhibited by other representatives of the Comunita' Montana. Marco Zuffi, for example, notwithstanding the request of staff members, entered the animal pens without taking any sanitary precautions, e.g. without wearing the prescribed boots.
We have no words to describe the arrogant and brutal ways of the Comunita' Montana and their so-called "super-experts". So much for Mr Zago's self-proclaimed respect for the Court's decisions...
Dear Friends,
It is with delusion and anger that we inform you that yesterday, 17th april, the local Comunità Montana of Massa Marittima on order of the Tuscan Region (its president Mr. Martini) managed to put under sequester and close the whole Carapax visiting Center for the public. We cannot let enter the public, neighter the many many schools that have made a reservation since months for a guided tour of environmental education which is one of our most important tasks given us by the European Union.
The Carapax Centre never received any financial public support and we are autosufficient only THANKS TO the small financements offered by our members, the visitors, our sponsors and colleague societies that offered us for years materials, structures and services.
The Tuscan Region and the Comunita Montana know this very well.....and with this global sequester of the visiting Centre they take away OUR BASIC RESOURCES !!!! For the moment “THE STAFF CAN REMAIN” to take care of the animals, but how shall we pay the feeding of 14.000 chelonians and 100 storks? How can we pay the invoices of electricity? How can we pay our staff who are experts that are dedicated with professionality and passion to the animals? How can we pay the invoices acumulated during wintermonths when the center remains closed to the public, while the expences for the animals continue? In this way the Tuscan Region and the Comunità Montana KNOW VERY WELL that they kill the Carapax Center, sending home the whole Carapax staff that has invested 20 years not only of his recognised competence but also its own soul.
To prevent this disaster we ask all associations, companies, friends and sustainers to help Carapax: you can give a donation to the Center on the following bankaccount: DEXIA bank, account of International RANA foundation – IBAN: BE 12068250732192 - BIC: GKCCBEBB – Message: SOS CARAPAX CENTRE We also continue the petition!
Thank you!!
CRIMINAL ACT AGAINST EUROPE’S FIRST TURTLE AND TORTOISE RESCUE CENTRE!
On next April 17th at 9 o’ clock AM the local “comunità montana” , a kind of intercomunal burocratic entity that manages demanial land for the Tuscan region s coming to the CARAPAX centre at Massa Marittima, to put the whole centre under sequester and to close it down.
The friends of CARAPAX know that since years the comunità montana is putting obstacles against CARAPAX. This burocratic local political structure is being manoeuvred between International RANA Foundation and the Tuscan region who adhered formally to the CARAPAX scheme as it was originally established between the EU Commission and RANA.
In 1989 the Tuscan region had offered as contribution suitable buildings for the purpose of the CARAPAX project including breeding programmes, research and reintroduction of chelonians in the wild. It was elected as the best EU project. Unfortunately CARAPAX got only ruins in rent for 35 years and was forced to restaure them by itself. The EU gave structural funds to do so (ca 375.000 Euro) but it went in the hands of this comunità montana who have stolen part of it, restaured badly the buildings, cancelled RANA as partner in the restauration scheme and afterwards tried to pull RANA out of its own centre and project! Since then it never stopped. Only temporary interruptions of the hostilities were there when the EU Commission intervened or when the Belgian Environment Minister came to Italy to stop this madness.
In 2007 CARAPAX was again under brutal attack and a juridical investigation was inflicted to the centre with the result that there were no irregularities and that CARAPAX was clean. The only thing still going on is the accusation of keeping and having received snapping turtles etc. The accusation came from the forestry dept, who had brought the animals themselves to CARAPAX earlier! Moreover the RANA Foundation has asked already 10 years ago the permits to keep these snappers, but first the Prefect controlled the facilities with positive result, than forgot to give a formal autorisation and finally lost the dossier….
Now the comunità montana awaiting the final result of the dispute – beginning 2010 – about the buildings at CARAPAX asked and got a cautelative sequester of these, but tries to give a larger interpretation to this sequester, namely to sequester the whole centre, stealing 7 people’s job, stealing know how, structures financed by private societies, private persons and the EU as well as stealing and putting at risk 14.000 chelonians, 100 White Storks, who are breeding now, and 10 Donkeys, and putting al these fragile creatures in the hands of incompetent people!
