Amazing Species: Northern River Terrapin
© Peter Praschag
Amazing Species: Northern River Terrapin The Northern River Terrapin, Batagur baska, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Populations of this riverine turtle, previously highly abundant in river deltas and estuaries of Orissa and West Bengal in India and the Ayeryawady Delta in Myanmar, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, have now all but vanished. Geographical range
Knowledge Experts Action Get Involved
In a report published in 2011, the Northern River Terrapin was listed in the top 25 of the world’s most endangered tortoises and turtles. Its alarming reduction in numbers is largely a result of overharvesting of both adults and eggs for human consumption and the illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss and degradation such as sand mining, dam construction and pollution have also contributed to the worrying decline of this species. With so few animals remaining, it has become a race against time to secure the last of the living animals in assurance colonies before this turtle blinks into extinction. The construction of a new captive breeding facility is underway in Bangladesh, and all efforts now need to be made to bring together the last of the remaining individuals of Northern River Terrapin to establish groups with suitable genetic variation for breeding. The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership.
Amazing Species: Northern River Terrapin The Northern River Terrapin, Batagur baska, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Populations of this riverine turtle, previously highly abundant in river deltas and estuaries of Orissa and West Bengal in India and the Ayeryawady Delta in Myanmar, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, have now all but vanished. Geographical range
Knowledge Experts Action Get Involved
In a report published in 2011, the Northern River Terrapin was listed in the top 25 of the world’s most endangered tortoises and turtles. Its alarming reduction in numbers is largely a result of overharvesting of both adults and eggs for human consumption and the illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss and degradation such as sand mining, dam construction and pollution have also contributed to the worrying decline of this species. With so few animals remaining, it has become a race against time to secure the last of the living animals in assurance colonies before this turtle blinks into extinction. The construction of a new captive breeding facility is underway in Bangladesh, and all efforts now need to be made to bring together the last of the remaining individuals of Northern River Terrapin to establish groups with suitable genetic variation for breeding. The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership.
