The critically endangered Arakan forest turtle (Heosemys depressa) was thought to be completely extinct until 1994, when conservationists found a few specimens in captivity in a Chinese food market. Now it has been rediscovered in the wild.
Credit: WCS/Steve Platt
BANGKOK: Scientists working in a remote west Myanmar forest have rediscovered a turtle previously thought to be extinct and not seen in the wild for 100 years.
The critically endangered Arakan forest turtle (Heosemys depressa) was thought to be completely extinct until 1994, when conservationists found a few specimens in captivity in a Chinese food market, said the New York City-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Five of the animals, which measure less than 30 cm in length, have now been found by a WCS team working in a sanctuary in military-ruled Myanmar (formerly Burma).
"We are delighted and astonished that this extremely rare species is alive and well in Myanmar," said Colin Poole, WCS director of Asian programs. "Now we must do what we can to protect the remaining population."
Wiped out
He said Asian turtles - highly sought after as food - were being "wiped out" by poachers for the illegal wildlife trade. Before 1994 the last known record of the Arakan forest turtle was of a single animal collected by a British army officer in 1908.
The scientists found the latest examples in a Myanmar sanctuary that contains "thick stands of impenetrable bamboo forests and is rarely visited by people", the WCS said. They also came across rare yellow tortoises and Asian leaf turtles, which are also threatened.
The Arakan forest turtles, which have light brown shells with black mottling, are locally known by a name, which translates as "turtle that eats rhinoceros faeces". The society said, however, that the name is a "tad timeworn" since the Sumatran rhinos that once lived in the area disappeared half a century ago due to hunting.
The WCS recommended several steps to ensure the turtles remain protected in the sanctuary, such as the establishment of permanent guard posts on roads leading in and out of the park to thwart poaching.
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