The Tortoise Project

The Tortoise Project explores the extraordinary natural history of tortoises and the people working to save them.

This project grew out of several years of field reporting for Tortoise!, a globe-spanning work of narrative nonfiction. The reporting has taken me to the front lines of tortoise conservation — from the Galápagos Islands to Aldabra Atoll in the western Indian Ocean, to Africa, Asia, and the deserts of the American Southwest.

Tortoises have captivated people for centuries, and because of us, today they are among the world’s most imperiled animals. Many tortoise species have already disappeared. The survivors all face global threats primarily from habitat loss and wildlife trafficking.

Tortoises arose during the Eocene, starting 56 million years ago. They became burrowers and grazers, dwarfs and giants, adapting to a wide range of climates and habitats from rainforests to some of the driest and harshest deserts. About 50 species of tortoises are living today, on every continent except Antarctica, and many oceanic islands.

But tortoises are relative newcomers in the much older story of turtles. For more than 210 million years, turtles have reshaped life on our planet. They have lived on Earth long before humans made their appearance. They survived the asteroid that ushered in the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 66 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs along with three-quarters of the planet’s plant and animal species.

My book, Tortoise!, is forthcoming from W. W. Norton & Company in July 2027.