Thanks to a good conservation work of the species, the Burmese wrinkled turtle (Batagur trivittata) is saved from extinction
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himA rare species of Asian tortoise has been saved from extinction. The population of the Burmese wrinkled turtle (Batagur trivittata) has now risen to about 1000 individuals thanks to a skilful conservation work of the species.
The Burmese Wrinkled Tortoise is an Asian river turtle that is characterized by having a kind of perennial smile. The females are significantly larger than the males, while the latter have the particularity of taking on bright colors during the breeding season.
solo 20 years ago the species was thought to be extinct but after rediscovering a small group of surviving animals, scientists were able to gradually increase the population to almost 1000 animals in captivity, some of which have already been successfully released into the wild in Myanmar over the past five years.
“We have come so close to losing them. If we hadn't intervened when we did, this turtle would have disappeared. " Steven G. Platt, herpetologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told The New York Times "
It was a villager in a former Myanmar war zone who handed Dr. Platt a shell from a Burmese wrinkled turtle. The bad news was that the turtle had recently been eaten by a predator, the good news was that the species hadn't become extinct. Thus the hope of saving her was rekindled.
It has come a long way since then and, to date, there are around 1000 Burmese tortoises, some born from eggs laid in the wild and others raised in captivity in three facilities in Myanmar. Five wild females also keep returning to Chindwin Beach to lay their eggs but no one knows how many males are left in the wild. In 2015, however, all females stopped producing fertile eggs, suggesting that the few or only males left were dead.
Although the species is no longer in danger of extinction, Dr Platt cautioned that unsustainable fishing practices remain a problem for wild-dwelling turtles.
Turtles face higher risks than other animals, with more than half of the planet's 360 species considered "threatened". The crisis is most acute for Asian species which are affected by both habitat loss and the problem of hunting and egg-gathering.
Among those most threatened is the Burmese wrinkled tortoise. Hundreds of individuals of this species in the past lived at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River south of Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar but now it is only thanks to the extensive breeding and conservation program of the species that it has been possible to return to a population of about 1000 individuals.
"This is one of the best turtle conservation successes globally we have," said Rick Hudson, president of the Turtle Survival Alliance.
Source: The New York Times
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