Rare
'Royal' Turtles Surface in Koh Kong
Giant
"royal" turtles thought to be
rediscovered along the Sre Ambel River in Koh
Kong province.
Wildlife
officials estimate about 50 adult estuarine
terrapins, which can weigh up to 31about 50
adult estuarine terrapins, can weigh up 31 kg,
live, in the area. During a survey of the area
last month, officials found several nests and
examined a large female.
'This
is a discovery of major conservation
importance. It is one of the world's most
endangered," turtles," said Steve
Platt of the Wildlife Conservation Society,
the New York-based organization that
participated in the survey with officials from
the ministries of Environment and agriculture.
Five
of the estuarine terrapins, called andeuk
sarsai in Khmer, were confiscated from
wildlife sellers in November, and are now kept
at the provincial fisheries department in h
Koh Kong, according to Nao Thuok, director of
the Ministry of Agriculture's Department of
Fisheries. The turtles are scheduled to be
released in March
"We
didn't know then that they were estuarine
terrapins," Nao Thouk said.
The
turtles were once considered to be the
exclusive property of the royal family, with
adult turtles protected by royal decree.
But the last recorded sighting of the giant
terrapin in Cambodia was in the 1890s by
French explorer Auguste Pavie, according to
Colin Poole of the WCS.
The
turtles once thrived along the Tonle Sap lake,
but disappeared from the shore because their
eggs were regularly caught for food, Nao Thuok
said. Ten years ago, two fossilized
shells were found near the lake, he said.
Poole
said that one Large turtle was found in the
private zoo of a government official last
year. Officials thought that it had come
from a Thai wildlife trader.
Less
than 30 of the terrapins are thought to exist
in India and only scattered populations remain
in Malaysia, according to Poole.
