Conservationists Discover 206 Royal Turtle Eggs
Front រូបភាព៖ WCS
- By Chhum Chantha
- February 14, 2024 6:10 PM
PHNOM PENH – A total of 206 royal turtle eggs from 20 nests have been found by the royal turtle conservation team and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Koh Kong province.
According to WCS on Feb. 14, the eggs were found on an artificial sandbank beside a breeding pond at Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center.
Photographs taken by experts show many royal turtles moved from the breeding pond to lay their eggs between 8pm and 4am.
This is the fourth year that royal turtles have laid eggs at the center.
The team intends to collect more turtle eggs in the center in the upcoming spawning season which runs from January to March next year.
The center plays a crucial role in increasing the number of royal turtles, with 268 being taken care of by the center. Last year, 118 hatched.
Breeding of this species is a conservation goal of WCS and the Fisheries Administration.
Royal turtles are one of the world’s 25 most endangered freshwater turtles and are listed as critically endangered in the International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Since 2005, royal turtles have held the prestigious honor of being Cambodia's national reptile.
According to the Ministry of Environment, royal turtles are threatened by the loss of flooded forest, the use of illegal fishing gear such as the installation of prohibited fishing rods and fishing in unauthorized areas.
Most notably, illegal sand dredging also affects spawning grounds.
In 2017, there were about 500 to 700 royal turtles globally. They live only in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Rin Ousa for Cambodianess.
