Release of Reared Rare Cambodian Turtles Holds Promise for Restoration / NY Times

[geovalin]

By Andrew C. Revkin

Conservationists release 21 captive-reared southern river terrapins, a turtle once thought wiped out in Cambodia, into a river there.Credit Thida Leiper

Turtles, both in the sea and fresh water, have had a terrible time in Earth’s age of humans, increasingly known as the Anthropocene. But once in awhile, there are signs of hope for this ancient order of reptiles, the latest being in Cambodia.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, working with Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration, announced today that 21 captive-raised southern river terrapins have been released into their native waterways in southwest Cambodia.

Here’s a video report and more details from the conservation group:

Southern river terrapins were believed extinct in Cambodia until 2000 when a small population was re-discovered by WCS in the Sre Ambel River system. Today, they are critically endangered and considered one of the world’s 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles.

The species is still known locally in Cambodia as the “Royal Turtle” because historically it was protected by royal decree and the eggs were considered a delicacy reserved for the king. More recently, southern river terrapins have been pushed to the brink of extinction largely due to unsustainable harvesting of eggs and adults. Consequently, they exist only in small isolated populations and there are less than 500 wild nesting females in total. [

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Of course, as long as demand for turtles is high — both for the pet trade and as a delicacy — any conservation victory of this sort is provisional. Read this recent piece from the Phnom Penh Post for an update on the food side: “Slippery ethics in the turtle eating business.”

source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/release-of-reared-rare-cambodian-turtles-holds-promise-for-restoration/?_r=0

[geovalin]

Emily J. Gertz is TakePart's associate editor for environment and wildlife.

A freshwater turtle that was once all but extinct has gotten a new lease on survival.

On Monday, 21 captive-raised southern river terrapins slipped into their native habitat: the gray-green waters of the Sre Ambel River system in southwest Cambodia. The release was made shortly after more than 150 villagers, government officials, conservation workers and monks held “a traditional ceremony in a nearby village to bestow blessings on the terrapins for their survival and reproduction,” according to a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

These were the first turtles to be released as part of an ambitious international collaboration to save the species from extinction, said Brian Horne, WCS's coordinator of freshwater turtle and tortoise programs. Horne has made upwards of 20 trips to Cambodia in the past five years to advise the program.

LONG DOCUMENTED ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE HERE:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/15/cambodia-endangered-freshwater-turtle-conservation-release

[natway09]

This is wonderful to see, but, problem they will all end up speared & in the pot.

You will never stop it, if it tastes yummy, it is dead here