The world's largest free-roaming giant tortoise population is thriving. A survey led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the University of Exeter found approximately 180,000 Aldabra giant tortoises living on Aldabra Atoll — the highest figure ever recorded for the species, and one that far exceeds the human population of Seychelles.

Despite the celebration, the authors warn that vigilance is essential. Longer and more frequent droughts are predicted to reduce the shade and food available to the tortoises, while rising sea levels threaten low-lying parts of the atoll. Feral cats and black rats still prey on tortoise eggs and hatchlings, though feral goats that once devastated the vegetation were successfully eradicated in 2012. "The numbers provide a baseline — not an endpoint," said Dr Dave Hudson of the University of Exeter, who hopes managers can act early as pressures mount.

The tortoise record lands alongside wider good news. earth.com reports that a University of Sydney review of more than 70 conservation "bright spots" — from coral reefs in Papua New Guinea to chimpanzees in West Africa, grizzly bears in Canada and albatrosses in Tasmania — found thriving sites share common traits: local knowledge valued alongside science, communities central to decision-making, and management adapted to local conditions. "Local conservation bright spots are not isolated miracles," co-author Josh Cinner said. "They follow patterns that we can recognize, learn from, and apply elsewhere."

The new baseline gives conservation managers a benchmark they can use to track the population for decades, according to The Guardian's report. The study authors say the planned eradication of the atoll's remaining invasive mammals — feral cats and black rats — could lift the last barriers to further population growth and help the tortoises withstand future climate pressures. With Aldabra's monitoring programme already one of the longest running in the region, the next chapter of this comeback is now built on the most reliable numbers yet.