Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Emergence of a Remarkable Tortoise Conservation Story from Kenya’s Crevices
Join The Explorers Club on March 30th to learn about a new conservation effort hoping to save the small and elusive Pancake Tortoise.
In September 2021, Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux found himself lying belly-down atop a Precambrian rocky outcrop in northern Kenya. Peering into a dimly lit crevice, he carefully reached deep into the stone, deliberately drawing out one of East Africa’s most secretive and endangered animals. Beneath the late winter sun emerged an eight-inch, brilliantly striated, yet peculiarly flat Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri).
At Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, where the famed “Big Five,” lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo, command the most attention, this quiet moment marked the start of a new conservation movement. The observation was the result of targeted field surveys and growing concern for a species long overlooked amid Kenya’s megafauna-focused conservation narrative.
Today, a National Conservation and Recovery Plan for the Pancake Tortoise, spearheaded by Turtle Survival Alliance with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the National Museums of Kenya, and the Kenya Wildlife Service, is well underway.
Marc will take you from a spontaneous breakfast conversation in 2019 to the incorporation of twelve community conservancies involved in Pancake Tortoise conservation, highlighting field discoveries, local partnerships, and efforts to actively engage other communities, while planning expansion into Tanzania and Zambia to secure the future of one of the world’s most extraordinary evolutionary marvels.
This in-person event at the Explorers Club Headquarters will include an audience Q&A.
RESERVATIONS
This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.
In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux
Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux, President and CEO of Turtle Survival Alliance, is a conservation biologist and a leader with a passion for creating long-term solutions to protect endangered wildlife and reduce human-wildlife conflicts. Marc joined Turtle Survival Alliance in 2023 with the goal of greatly expanding its global reach by partnering with stakeholders worldwide to end the threat of turtle extinctions and ensure that turtle populations thrive in the wild.
His research includes studying tortoise and freshwater turtle communities, demographics, and ways to ensure their long-term survival and in 2021 discovered a new population of critically endangered Pancake Tortoises (Malacochersus tornieri) in Kenya. He has also worked with community leaders in Canada and in Kenya to organize community-science efforts to monitor turtle nesting and reduce human-caused mortality. Marc has also led projects aimed at protecting mammals and birds. He has worked closely with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy where he studied predator-prey behavior, and ways to ensure their co-existence with people.
Marc holds a Ph.D. in Biology (Conservation Biology), a Master of Environmental Studies (Wildlife Conservation), a Master of Business Administration (Finance) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance). He lectured in ecology and conservation at York University’s Glendon College. Marc volunteers on the boards of several organizations dedicated to turtle and wildlife conservation, including the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre. He has also served on the boards of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the Canadian Herpetological Society and is a member of multiple scientific societies, including the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, and an International Fellow of The Explorers Club.
