Drastic action to save endangered tortoise
In a desperate bid to save one of the world's most endangered animals, conservationists are taking the controversial step of defacing the last survivors.
Ploughshare tortoises are highly prized for their distinctive gold and black shells and fetch exceptionally high prices on the international black market.
Efforts to steal the animals from their native Madagascar are so relentless that there may only be less than 500 left. So the tortoises are now having their shells permanently engraved with a large serial number together with the initials "MG" for Madagascar. The hope is that deliberately making the animals less attractive will reduce or even eliminate demand for them.
When the idea was first raised, it faced vigorous opposition from many in the conservation movement, the Madagascar government and also staff within the charity involved, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Carving into the plowshares' shells to disfigure them is the equivalent of removing all horns from rhinos or tusks from elephants to stop those animals from being poached.
Richard Lewis, director of Durrell's operations in Madagascar, told the BBC that "we hate doing it but it's got to be done to help save the species".
"It goes against every grain and gene in our bodies to do this - everything says we shouldn't do this, what we believe in, what we stand for.
"But we think this can be a major step in stopping people wanting these animals. We believe this will be a genuine deterrent."
According to Mr. Lewis, campaigners fighting animal trafficking had spoken to several traders who had made clear that there would be no market for tortoises that had been engraved.
The etching is several millimeters deep and only penetrates the shell, rather than the more sensitive bone underneath, and Durrell staff are convinced that while the process may be uncomfortable for the animals, it does not hurt them.
I watched while one tortoise was engraved. It waved its legs to try to move away as an electric drill was applied but it was not in obvious distress.
The task of marking each animal is one of a range of drastic measures designed to thwart the smugglers and head off the extinction of the species.
The charity runs a captive breeding Centre in the Ankarafansika National Park to encourage the tortoises to reproduce - and more than 100 young adults have since been released into the wild.
The breeding Centre, itself a target for poachers, is now guarded 24 hours a day with electronic surveillance and a team of policemen.
Only in April, two Taiwanese men, posing as tourists, attempted to bribe local staff to gain access. They were later arrested leaving Madagascar with dozens of a less threatened species of tortoise in their luggage.
The only habitat where the ploughshare tortoises live in the wild - a remote and arid stretch of sand, rock and bamboo at Baly Bay in northwest Madagascar - has been turned into a national park to offer protection.