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| An eighteen kilograms Cantor's soft-shell turtle lays on the floor before release at an opening of the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center in Kratie province, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Conservationists have opened a shelter in Cambodia for a rare type of endangered soft-shell turtle. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) |
June 8, 2011
AP
SAMBOUR, Cambodia—An extremely rare soft-shell turtle species has a new, protected home in Cambodia.
The critically endangered Cantor's giant soft-shell turtle is one of the rarest freshwater turtles in the world. Scientists last saw one in the Cambodian wild in 2003, and small numbers have been seen in neighboring Laos, while it appears to have disappeared from Vietnam and Thailand.
U.S.-based Conservation International said it opened the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center on Wednesday in Kratie province, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Phnom Penh.
A 40-pound (18-kilogram) female turtle and six babies were released into the conservation pond at a Buddhist pagoda on the Mekong River at the center's launch. The ceremony was attended by six Buddhist monks -- who blessed the female turtle by painting scared markings on her body -- and more than 100 villagers.
"Our goal is to conserve Cantor's turtle populations in their natural habitat, the Mekong River, through the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center and the community-led nest protection scheme," Conservation International said in a statement.
Local fishermen currently collect both eggs and adult turtles for their own consumption and sale to restaurants, Conservation International said. Soft-shelled turtles are considered a delicacy in many Asian diets, and rarity only adds to their value on menus or as traditional medicines.
The species can grow up to 6 feet (2 meters) in length and weigh more than 110 pounds (50 kilograms).
Conservation International said planned dams and dredging schemes on the river pose another serious threat to the species.
5 comments:
please help save cambodia rare animals. yes, we prefer the international experts help cambodia establish the animal sancturary in cambodia and train more biologists, zoologists, scientists, etc in cambodia. thank you. yes, khmer students are eager to learn from the western world, you know! god bless cambodia.
Can we put an old Lion with soft born in there too?
It cause alot of Khmer soffering to keep that old fool in China!
Kbal Andeuk duch kbal kdor preah ang machas Ranariddh!
The scientists can save soft-shell
turtles in the parks,but not in the
Mekong River because Vietnamese
will catch for food.
Hun Sen and Vietnamese are
destroying everything in Cambodia,
including this precious soft-shell
turtle.
wow...never seen this before. such a rare species.
www.khmeroldies.info
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