Club Chelonian

TUCKED DISCREETLY in the hills on the eastern edge of Ojai lies an unmarked, unmapped seven-acre sanctuary for one of the world’s most ancient – and most endangered – creatures. But this isn’t some government funded project. This is the private home of a New York City nightclub baron with celebrity friends and a star studded life, who has dedicated his latter career to protecting all types of turtles, terrapins, and tortoises.

BY AMELIA FLEETWOOD

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The four Ploughshare tortoises that slowly wend their way around their rock-wall-lined enclosure – grazing on special grasses and blinking up at the sun – remind me of little roaming military helmets. It’s precisely their distinctive high-domed black and gold shells that these species, native to Madagascar, are known for – and also why they’re endangered. With fewer than 100 of the animals now in existence, poaching levels have reached their highest to date.

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“For a person in Madagascar, living in extreme poverty, to find one of these – it’s the same as finding a bar of gold,” says Eric Goode, swinging up one of his long legs to lean on one of the enclosure’s rocks, as if to better study the species that he’s singlehandedly trying to bring back from the brink of extinction. People are willing to pay $60,000 or more for one of the rare animals – usually in Asian countries, where people keep them as luxury pets. To prove the point, he goes on to tell me that the four we’re watching were confiscated from the black market in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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Moving on to another enclosure, this one complete with small ponds of water, Goode introduces me to his newest arrivals – squat six-inch-round creatures with flat, jet-black shells peppered in bright yellow spots. “These cute little guys were just intercepted on their way to China by Fish and Wildlife at LAX,” he says. They are North American spotted turtles, and most often found in South Carolina and along the East Coast’s marshlands. “The turtles were packed tightly, stuffed into socks, and squished into boxes to be sold as pets when they were discovered.”

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Dressed casually in sneakers, jeans, and a plaid shirt, Goode, in his late 50s, reminds one of a professor. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes regularly, while his phone signals every few moments that he is, indeed, a very busy man. “We always think illegal animal trafficking happens outside of the US, but, much like the illegal drug trade, there is a robust wildlife trade in our own country, largely taking the animals to markets in China or Southeast Asia,” Goode explains. “Confiscations are up. Fish and Wildlife brings us their confiscated turtles, but, much as it is for finding illegal drugs, they sadly intercept only about 5 or 10 percent. The majority of turtles don’t get saved.” In addition to the exotic pet trade, habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change have also had a devastating impact on their numbers. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority of this field, of the 207 species of turtle and tortoise alive today, 129 of them are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered – that’s 62 percent of the species.

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It’s a sad fact that Goode is working tirelessly to correct. So much so, in 2003, he transformed his own seven-acre private residence, tucked discreetly in Ojai’s East End, into a refuge known as the Ojai Turtle Conservancy. He has lived here, on and off, for the past 30 years, and today shares his home with about 200 endangered turtles and tortoises across 25 species. With paths flanked by orange trees, open and airy rock enclosures, terrarium-like greenhouses, ponds, and Mediterranean-style buildings, the sprawling property feels like a Club Med, just for reptiles. Call it Club Chelonian. 

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Conservation wasn’t Goode’s first career. The epitome of down-to-earth in his Ojai garb, Goode is actually a high-profile New York hotelier and restaurateur, who spent most of the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s starting up trendsetting social spots in New York, like nightclubs Area and B Bar, and most recently, downtown hotels like the Bowery and the Waverly Inn. Google his name and photos of him beside celebs like Naomi Watts, Sarah Silverman, and Mark Ruffalo dominate the search results. Yet, his passion for turtles predates his career as a nightclub baron.

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“I guess I’ve always been a closet herpetologist,” laughs Goode as we lunch on tacos in the rustic kitchen – complete with a vintage sink, beautiful tiles, and a huge farmhouse kitchen table – inside one of the smaller, Spanish-style houses on the property. “When I was 6 or 7,” Goode tells me, “I used to catch rattlesnakes, put them in my lunch box, and take them home to my mom. Everything that was creepy crawly interested me.” Born in Rhode Island and raised in New York until he was 8, Goode and his family moved to Ojai, where his father, now retired, taught at Thatcher School.

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“As an adult, I discovered that turtles are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates (along with primates) on the planet. I wanted to do something about it,” he says. Luckily for the turtles, Goode found time to follow his passion during his first career. In fact, his hospitality empire granted him the ability to travel the world, informally studying and learning everything he could about the species.

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In 2002, Goode took a trip to Myanmar, along with the Wildlife Conservation Society and members of the Bronx Zoo, in search of a very rare turtle that had been spotted for the first time in over half a century. While they did not have the

good fortune to view the turtle for themselves, it fostered a relationship: A year later, the curator of the Bronx Zoo called to ask if Goode could help find a permanent home for 200 rare and endangered turtles as the zoo was closing its large animal preserve, known as the Wildlife Survival Center, on St. Catherine’s Island just off Savannah.

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This was the beginning of Goode’s Turtle Conservancy. In fact, Ojai’s Mediterranean climate makes for an ideal environment for most of the animals, while greenhouses are scattered throughout the seven acres to house tropical species that require special hot and humid conditions, like the radiated turtles from Madagascar and the spiny hill turtles from Borneo. One brick and glass building was outfitted with floor heaters, humidifiers, and automatic sunshades. It reminded me of a climate-controlled cloud forest. Outdoor pens simulate micro-environments – some dry and arid, others lush with greenery and misting devices – suited to Galapagos giant tortoises, Burmese stars, Chacos, Mexican spotted wood turtles, and more. Goode himself takes credit for the careful landscaping, with the help of a few locals: “I took some inspiration from Lotus Land in Santa Barbara and also the Huntington Gardens in San Marino.”

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The conservancy is also the only AZA-accredited captive breeding facility dedicated solely to turtles and tortoises worldwide to help in the fight against their extinction. (AZA stands for Association of Zoos & Aquariums and accreditation from them only comes when a strict measure of standards is met.) Inside the nursery, which is a nondescript outbuilding, incubators crowd the space like rows of large fridges, housing hatchlings and juveniles. Notes hang on the wall with stats and dates. A vet tech hovers like a helicopter parent. Here, Goode picks up a very small and rare example of a type of gold coin turtle, a brightly colored species with three distinct black stripes down its shell. It fits in the palm of his hand – like a coin. “People in China like to keep these little guys as pets because they are status symbols now, being that they are so rare,” he says, holding it with childlike exuberance. “We breed turtles here, like these guys, and send them on to 

protected parts of the world – sometimes back to where they

came from.”

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While the housing and breeding of the turtles happens in Ojai, it’s actually a small fraction of the conservancy’s efforts. A few visitors, mainly other conservationists and friends, are welcomed, and an occasional tour takes place, but for the most part it is very private – which is why, if you ask Ojai locals about the turtle sanctuary, you might be surprised by the number of blank stares. Other concerns – most importantly, the raising of money for the acquisition and preservation of land to protect the habitats – takes place in the Turtle Conservancy offices in New York City.

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Believing that the best way to protect a species is to protect their intact habitat, each year, the Turtle Conservancy puts on the Turtle Ball in New York City to raise much-needed funds for land acquisition: This is where Goode’s celebrity connections come in handy. During April 2017’s event, Drew Barrymore, Rashida Jones, and Edward Norton attended in support, and helped raise more than $500,000. Recently, the Turtle Conservancy partnered with Leonardo Di Caprio’s foundation to purchase 43,000 acres in Northern Mexico. “By buying that land we protect everything on it,” Goode explains. “Mountain lions, 150 species of birds, reptiles – all animals.” The Turtle Conservancy is hoping to buy more land in South Africa, the Philippines, and Madagascar, to create more wildlife safe havens.

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“We are trying to make turtles cool,” Goode says. “I am using all my cool friends to help me spread the word.” Regular

public service announcements posted to the Turtle Conservancy webpage depict celebs like Christopher Walken, Ted Danson, Christy Turlington, Russell Simmons, and even Slash, holding a turtle of their choice, interacting with it, and commenting on their plight. “I never thought that these two worlds would have collided 20 years ago,” Goode confides. “But in today’s political climate, more and more people are coming out to champion our environment.”

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When asked how his past life in hospitality has prepared him for his life in conservation, Goode laughs in his good-natured way. “Well, these animals are much more demanding than my hotel guests. They are more complicated and much fussier about their room service, too.”