Arakan Forest Turtle Lost and Found

THE REPORT:
The extremely rare Arakan Forest Turtle which lives near Myanmar was thought extinct in the wild since 1908. Although some of the turtles were found in local food markets in 1994, its existence in the wild remained unsure. One possible cause for its extinction is that it was over hunted due to its value in medicinal recipes. Another possible culprit would be the extinction of the Sumatran rhino which was found in the area until about 1950. The turtles name in the native tongue (Pyant Cheezar) literally translates to: "Turtle that eats rhino feces" (see picture top right). Perhaps the elimination of one of its main food sources led to the turtle's near-demise.

But fear not, for five new specimens (14 living in captivity) were found in the Rakhine Yoma elephant wildlife sanctuary just months ago (May 2009) in the Arakan Hills just west of Myanmar. It is possible that the turtles have stumbled upon a new food source (elephant dung) and may be making a comback in the animal kingdom.

The fourteen are held in: Zoo Atlanta, the St. Louis Zoo, the Miami Metro Zoo, River Banks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina, and Knoxville Zoo. The newest additions to the turtle family will remain in the Elephant sanctuary they were found in.

MY OPINION:
It's always amazing to discover that a species thought long-gone shows more resilience than you expected. It gives me more hope for wildlife as global warming continues to spike. All I can say is I feel sorry for the turtles who have to eat droppings all day. Oh well, they would probably look at my meatloaf and say the same thing. That is, if they could talk. Which they can't. Ah well, just give them another couple million years of evolution. It worked for the dinosaurs... sort of.

SOURCES:
Cryptomundo.com
Wikipedia.org
ARKive.org