The southern river terrapin (''Batagur affinis'')
is a turtle of the family
Geoemydidae
The Geoemydidae (formerly known as Bataguridae) are one of the largest and most diverse families in the order Testudines (turtles), with about 70 species. The family includes the Eurasian pond and river turtles and Neotropical wood turtles. Mem ...
found in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
.
Subspecies
*''Batagur affinis affinis''
*''Batagur affinis edwardmolli''
Decline
Many Asian
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s are in danger because of the thriving trade in
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage ...
s in the region, where a species' rarity can add to its value on a
menu
In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...
or as a
traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
.
The
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
was thought to have disappeared from Cambodia until it was rediscovered in 2001.
Conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
ists eventually began tagging the animals with
tracking devices and monitoring their nests, and King
Norodom Sihamoni
Norodom Sihamoni ( km, នរោត្តម សីហមុនី, ; born 14 May 1953) is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of Norodom Sih ...
personally ordered their protection.
Its eggs were a delicacy of the royal cuisine of Cambodia. In 2005, it was designated the national reptile of Cambodia in an effort to bring awareness and conservation for this species. In July 2015, conservationists in Cambodia cautiously stated that efforts to bring back the species from the brink of extinction were having some success. A number of turtles, including breeding pairs, have been moved from enclosed areas into their intended home, the rivers and shores of
Koh Kong where, it is hoped – with the ongoing monitoring and protection of locals and conservationists – they will begin to flourish. They began their conservation effort by ensuring the safety of the hatchlings through fencing the nesting area of the species, given that the extremely low number of nests laid already.
[Seah, Adeline, et al. “Last Exit before the Brink: Conservation Genomics of the Cambodian Population of the Critically Endangered Southern River Terrapin.” Ecology and Evolution., vol. 9, no. 17, Blackwell Pub Ltd, Sept. 2019, pp. 9500–10, doi:10.1002/ece3.5434.]
In Malaysia, rivers of
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...
,
Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...
and
Terengganu
Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith") ...
are major nesting grounds though the population continues to crash despite conservation efforts undertaken by
Malaysian Wildlife Department for over 20 years. Pasir Temir and Pasir Lubuk Kawah by the
Terengganu River are the largest nesting sites for ''Batagur baska'' in the world.
See also
*
Northern river terrapin
The northern river terrapin (''Batagur baska'') is a species of riverine turtle native to Southeast Asia. It is classified Critically Endangered by the IUCN and considered extinct in much of its former range.
Description
The northern river ter ...
References
;Bibliography
*
External links
Turtle Survival Alliance Blog – Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis)Turtle Conservation Society of MalaysiaSatellites to Track Rare Royal Turtle in Cambodia (Video)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2592204
Batagur
Reptiles described in 1847