Return of Myanmar's smiling turtle (earthsky.org)

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Today's Image | September 13, 2020

Need something to smile about? Here’s a story about smiling turtles saved from extinction in Myanmar.

The entire population of the Burmese roofed turtle – a large Asian river turtle with a permanently smiling face – was once down to a just few individuals in the wild. But late last month (August 25, 2020), conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) announced they had successfully raised 1,000 of the turtles in captivity. They said the smiling turtle will soon be ready for release into the wild.

Burmese roofed turtles (Batagur trivittata) are considered one of the most endangered turtles in the world. In fact, the species was believed to be extinct until WCS/TSA conservationists, along with the Myanmar Forest Department, rediscovered it in the wild in the early 2000s.

WCS herpetologist Steven G. Platt told the New York Times: