Eco-Hack! The New Yorker Documentary

Transition Habitat Conservancy has been working with Desert tortoise biologist Tim Shields and Hardshell Labs for just under a decade in order to help save the tortoise from extinction in the Western Mojave Desert, and throughout its range. This video gives a short summation of just some of the passion and work that is going into this long-term project. We will continue to support the work of Hardshell labs because we believe that they are doing entirely unique and impactful work, in favor of the tortoise.

Tim: “This is a hopeful story, not false hope, but hope tempered by realism. As we all know too well, 21st Century conservation biology is no bed of roses, but I do believe that each of us has a role to play in at least limiting the damage that is done to the natural world around us, and at best repairing that damage.

Hardshell has made a lot of substantial progress in our odd little corner of the conservation scene, working on the Raven Problem and the Tortoise Problem, with a whole lot of help from you (Transition Habitat Conservancy). Suffice it to say that the ravens are telling us, in their own way, that they are less than thrilled to have us wielding a bunch of gizmos and directing them at Corvus corax. After a lifetime of witnessing the damage they do, and a decade of effort at figuring out the tech and the techniques to address it, there is a deep satisfaction in seeing shifts in their behavior that convince me we are making real progress. I want you to know that they are giving us some very encouraging signals to keep going. We must await the signal from the tortoises.”

The tortoises filmed in this video are wild animals located on lands that THC has saved through conservation work.

Check out the insightful and revolutionary work Hardshell Labs is doing.