John L. Behler (1946 – January 31, 2006) was an American naturalist,

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

, author, and activist known for his work in conserving

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s, and other

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s. He served as curator of herpetology at the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...

, part of the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

from 1976 to 2006. He co-chaired the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, and was a founding member of the Turtle Survival Alliance, which co-present the Behler Turtle Conservation Award with the Turtle Conservancy and Turtle Conservation Fund. The Behler Turtle Conservation Award is a major annual award to honor leadership in the field of freshwater turtle and tortoise conservation. The

Turtle Conservancy The Turtle Conservancy (TC) is a 501(c)3 organization with a focus on protecting threatened turtles and tortoises and their habitats worldwide working toward improving turtle and tortoise populations in the wild. The TC is a conservation organiz ...

named its captive breeding center, the Behler Chelonian Center, in his honor.

Behler Chelonian Center

One of John Behler's lasting legacies is the Behler Chelonian Center, which John cofounded with Eric Goode in 2004 along with Bill Holmstrom and Maurice Rodriguez. The Behler Chelonian Center is an AZA accredited 501-C3 not for profit organization originally created to act as the steward of the

's long term collection of over 150 critically endangered chelonians. The center is located in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and is operated by the

, a global turtle and tortoise conservation organization. It has become the most successful captive breeding facility for endangered turtles and tortoises managing and breeding many of the world's most threatened chelonians. The Behler Chelonian Center was the first institution in the world to ever send captive bred turtles back to their range country for reintroduction. This is an ongoing project, with

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) (), formerly known as Kadoorie Experimental and Extension Farm (), or Kadoorie Farm (), was originally set up to aid poor farmers in the New Territories in Hong Kong. It later shifted its focus to promote b ...

and the Behler Chelonian Center sending the Critically Endangered

golden coin turtle __NOTOC__ The golden coin turtle or Chinese three-striped box turtle (''Cuora trifasciata'') is a species of turtle endemic to southern China. Distribution The species is distributed in China, but only on the island of Hainan (it is extirpat ...

(''Cuora trifasciata'') back to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Today the

and Behler Chelonian Center have ongoing conservation programs around the world, protecting the Critically Endangered ploughshare tortoise (''Astrochelys yniphora'') in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, as well as some of the last important habitat for the Critically Endangered

geometric tortoise The geometric tortoise (''Psammobates geometricus'') is a critically endangered species of tortoise and one of three members of the genus '' Psammobates''. It is found in a very small section in the South-Western Cape of South Africa. Identifi ...

(''Psammobates geometricus'') in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, with additional programs in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, United States,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Publications

National Audubon Society First Field Guide Reptiles
Scholastic
April 1, 1999 Alligators and Crocodiles (Worldlife Library)
Voyageur Press
June 13, 1998

Notes

References

*Pearce, Jeremy. (February 5, 2006). "John L. Behler, 62, Dies; Influential Voice for Saving Reptiles". ''The New York Times''.

External links

Behler collection finding aid
for collection held by the Wildlife Conservation Society Archives
The World Conservation Union; Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group
Retrieved 2012-04-13.
Turtle Conservancy and Behler Chelonian Center
Retrieved 2012-04-13 {{DEFAULTSORT:Behler, John L. 1946 births 2006 deaths American naturalists American curators Wildlife Conservation Society people 20th-century naturalists