Turtle bred on artificial beach

Aligators, caimen, crocodiles, terrapins, tortoises and turtles exotic to South Africa.

Turtle bred on artificial beach

Postby Sico » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:40 pm

Dhaka - Zoologists have for the first time bred a critically endangered turtle species using an artificial beach, Bangladeshi specialists announced on Monday.
The northern river terrapin, scientific name Batagur baska, is extinct in the wild in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, and survives only in tiny numbers in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.
But 25 turtles hatched last week at a beach built on the banks of two ponds in Bangladesh's Bhawal National Park to encourage their parents, which had been captured from the wild, to breed in a safe environment.
"The female turtles laid eggs and last week 25 turtles cubs were hatched," said SMA Rashid, head of the Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources and Management, a private wildlife group.
"They are tiny but doing fine."
The organisation had "scoured Bangladesh's coastal districts in the south and collected 14 males and five females", he said, and worked with the US-based Turtles Survival Alliance, Bangladesh's forest department and Vienna Zoo.

The Austrian institution bred the turtles in a laboratory two years ago and hatched two babies but one later died.
In its most recent report on the species in 2000 the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed it as critically endangered because of habitat loss, illegal hunting and export to China.
Monirul Khan, Bangladesh's leading wildlife professor, said the breeding breakthrough gave the species "the biggest hope for survival against all the odds".

- SAPA 2012-06-11 17:41
Mark
Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment.
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Sico
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Re: Turtle bred on artificial beach

Postby kfc223 » Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:55 pm

Thats great news!
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Re: Turtle bred on artificial beach

Postby Warren Klein » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:44 am

Good news but "25 turtle cubs"LOL
An inaccurate naturalist is a pest and a danger, forever perpetuating illogical deductions and landing later naturalists in trouble. Damm and blast them all to hell in the most painful way. C.J.P. Ionides
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Re: Turtle bred on artificial beach

Postby Sico » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:44 am

HAHA! Yeah I looked at that as well.
Mark
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Re: Turtle bred on artificial beach

Postby kinghero » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:04 am

Am I right in saying it needed to be Hatchling's ? :smt017
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