By Nyang’au Araka
A ten-year plan to save the world’s rarest tortoise, the Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), whose population is under severe threat in its last remaining strongholds will be launched on Friday.
The National Recovery and Conservation Action Plan (2025-2035) will be launched in Chiakariga, Tharaka-Nithi County, to also mark the World Endangered Species Day
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The ceremony will be graced by the Tourism and Wildlife top leadership, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), National Museums of Kenya (NMK), conservation partners, community leaders, and leadership from the nine county governments where the species occurs in the wild.
Unlike other tortoises, the Pancake Tortoise is renowned for its remarkably flat and flexible shell, an evolutionary adaptation that allows it to slip into narrow crevices of rocky outcrops known as kopjes, where it hides from predators.
A media statement by KWS said that Kenya is home to more than 80 percent of the global population of this evolutionarily distinct species.
The species is found in arid and semi-arid landscapes across Kitui, Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Tana River, Meru, Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia, and Marsabit counties.
“However, this remarkable reptile now teeters on the brink of extinction,” the statement said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Pancake Tortoise as Critically Endangered.
Its precipitous decline is attributed to rampant illegal collection for the international exotic pet trade, destruction of its fragile rocky habitat due to mining and unsustainable agriculture, and the escalating effects of climate change on dry land ecosystems.
KWS has developed an ambitious 10-year action plan that sets out a multi-faceted rescue strategy.
The plan was formulated through a two-year, wide-ranging consultative process involving the National Museums of Kenya, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the Turtle Survival Alliance, and local community representatives.
Key strategies in the Action Plan include securing and restoring critical kopje habitats across the species range, promoting community-led conservation through the training of local tortoise guardians, and strengthening enforcement to disrupt illegal trafficking networks.
It also prioritizes scientific research such as genetic studies and population monitoring, development of eco-tourism experiences to create sustainable income for communities, and habitat interventions to buffer the species against the intensifying impacts of drought and climate variability.
This species is not found in national parks or reserves over 95 percent of Pancake Tortoise populations live outside protected areas, said Prof. Erustus Kanga, Director-General of Kenya Wildlife Service.
Their future rests squarely in the hands of the county governments and the communities who share their habitat. This plan empowers them to lead the charge.
To reinforce that commitment, the governors of the nine counties will be invited to sign a joint conservation pact during the launch event.
The agreement will commit each county to designate protected habitat zones, allocate funds for public awareness, and establish county-level wildlife monitoring and enforcement units focused on the tortoise.
The Chiakariga event will provide powerful visual moments for media and the public, including the first public unveiling of the Pancake Tortoise Action Plan, live viewing of the rare species in its natural rocky environment, cultural performances by the Tharaka community, and the symbolic signing of the conservation agreement by governors.
The event will also feature educational exhibitions, expert commentary from herpetologists and ecologists, and distribution of species fact sheets and county-level population maps.
Researchers say that the Pancake Tortoise lays only one egg per year, one of the lowest reproductive rates among tortoises.
Its flexible shell is not just unique but a key survival trait for life in rocky crevices.
Kenya is the last viable stronghold for the species in the wild.
