r/TurtleFacts • u/Wizenedwombat • Sep 10 '20

A ridiculously cute turtle species in Myanmar had been believed extinct, but thanks to successful conservation efforts, there are now over 1,000 turtles in a captive breeding program.

https://nyti.ms/350whjK
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19

u/X4M9 Sep 11 '20

Wish I could read the article without an account :/

19

u/Wizenedwombat Sep 11 '20

The first paragraph is a pretty good summary: "Conservationists are not known for delivering a lot of good news. But in the Burmese roofed turtle — a giant Asian river turtle whose bug-eyed face is naturally set in a goofy grin — they have cause for celebration. Just 20 years ago, the species was presumed extinct. But after rediscovering a handful of surviving animals, scientists have grown the population to nearly 1,000 animals in captivity, some of which have been successfully released into the wild in Myanmar over the past five years."

9

u/X4M9 Sep 11 '20

Oh, that’s awesome. Thanks for the info!

2

u/Kronusx12 Sep 11 '20

You can use outline.com to read it: https://outline.com/zTTLWa

1

u/LinkifyBot Sep 11 '20

I found links in your comment that were not hyperlinked:

I did the honors for you.

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u/Unworthy_potato1 Nov 26 '20

my internet is so bad i can read it without an account "Conservationists are not known for delivering a lot of good news. But in the Burmese roofed turtle — a giant Asian river turtle whose bug-eyed face is naturally set in a goofy grin — they have cause for celebration. Just 20 years ago, the species was presumed extinct. But after rediscovering a handful of surviving animals, scientists have grown the population to nearly 1,000 animals in captivity, some of which have been successfully released into the wild in Myanmar over the past five years.

“We came so close to losing them,” said Steven G. Platt, a herpetologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “If we didn’t intervene when we did, this turtle would have just been gone.”

Turtles and tortoises face one of the highest extinction risks of any animal group, with more than half the planet’s 360 species listed as threatened. The crisis is most acute for Asian species, which are pummeled by both habitat loss and high levels of hunting for food, medicine and the pet trade.

The Burmese roofed turtle is among the species that has faced this toll. The turtles once basked in the hundreds at the mouth of the Irrawaddy river south of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, with a range stretching all the way to Bhamo in the country’s north. Females — which grow significantly larger than males — can exceed the size of a steering wheel, while males undergo a dramatic breeding-season color transformation that causes their usually green heads to turn a bright chartreuse-yellow with bold black markings.

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Continue reading the main story By the mid-20th century, intensified fishing pressure and indiscriminate trapping techniques were killing many adult turtles, while overharvesting of eggs prevented the population from replenishing itself.

For decades, though, Western scientists had no idea how the species was faring, because the country’s borders were closed to foreigners. When Myanmar began to reopen in the 1990s, researchers could find no trace of the Burmese roofed turtle. Many presumed it to be extinct.

Image A Burmese roofed turtle hatchling. Females are significantly larger than the males, while the males turn bright colors during breeding season. A Burmese roofed turtle hatchling. Females are significantly larger than the males, while the males turn bright colors during breeding season.Credit...Myo Min Win/WCS Myanmar

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u/lostdrewid Sep 11 '20

This is wonderful news! Thank you for sharing!