Zoos with the rarest / most endangered freshwater turtles

I believe there's also an Asiatic(?) Softshell Turtle in one of their other, smaller tanks.

 

Good point and good motto too, a sentiment I very much share actually.

In terms of common vs rare species I would much rather zoos kept turtles that are of conservation concern over the common.

Yes, once again I agree with you on what you've said about surplus animals and their welfare.

 

Thank you for this excellent comment and list @Jana !

Prague zoo seem to have a stellar collection of freshwater turtles indeed, do you have a favourite species of the ones they keep ?

I'm going to have a look through this and check out some of these species in a bit as some of them sound very interesting and I admit I'm not familiar with all of these turtle species and their conservation status.

 

It´s hard to say because I like tortoises and turtles a lot and can´t pick just one favourite species. The most visualy striking is for me Vietnamese box turtle. Most cute one probably brown roof turtle, I have almost bought a couple for myself ca 20 years ago when they were still legally imported (I think from Pakistan WB). Leaf turtles are exciting and active, they look like small ETs (aliens). Young spiny turtles make great ornaments. However my most favourite animal is no longer kept at Prague zoo, it was large female Dermatemys mawii.

 

Concerning stress, I wonder about simple methods used for other animals. Visual barriers within exhibits, and making a list of (in)compatible species and social/unsocial species.

All these things can be done together, they are not competition. However, there is a difference of time scale (time is naturally easy to forget when working with turtles )

Swapping animals between institutions takes few months only. it is good as an immediate action. Building new exhibits takes years. Even producing husbandry guidelines and educating zoo community takes years. Reintroduction can easily take more than a decade.

 

The Vietnamese box turtle is most definitely a visually striking species, I agree, that strange shaped shell and beautiful yellow colouration.

So you have owned turtles before ? That's cool !

I love the comparison of leaf turtles to aliens, lol, they do look a bit out of this world indeed.

What do you mean in terms of ornaments for spiny turtles ? Not sure what you mean there.

What happened to the hickatee you mention being your favourite at Prague ?

By the way, this species is very very endangered in Central America and while I have seen the anthropogenic pressures on this turtle firsthand. It could actually really benefit from being kept more and bred more extensively ex-situ by zoos.

 

Spiny hill turtles have really spiny carapax when they are fresh babies, their shape and size is like a ornament you would hang on a necklace, not a living turtle.

That large hickatee spent years living alone (actually with anacondas) in a large pool and the zoo was unable to track available male in any European collection. They had two turtles but both females. Then large flood at zoo ground happened and those two females were rescued and sent to Usti zoo, who sent them away a year later, I don´t know where, but I think they returned to their owner (private person).

 

Ah, I see what you mean.

Yes the carapace does look a bit like a necklace pendant or a christmas tree decoration I agree.

That is a shame what happened with the hickatee turtle, such a shame.

It just goes to show I suppose that zoos should be far far more coordinated in captive breeding and sourcing animals for these programs if they are actually going to keep a species.

 

This is quite an interesting Mongabay article I found earlier on the Malaysian painted turtle and its in-situ and ex-situ conservation.

It describes the coordinated work of an Indonesian NGO "The Satucita foundation" and Chester zoo's ex-situ conservation program for the species and supporting role in guidance / advice.

Link to article and to the Satucita NGO site below.

Pulling the stunningly unique painted terrapin back from the brink

Satucita Foundation

 

Interesting and beautifully filmed short documentary on the in-situ conservation of the Northern river turtle (Batagur baska) in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh.

Link below, enjoy.

 

Black-breasted leaf turtle is animal with the funniest expression for me.

 

I find some of the expressions of the soft shell and long necked freshwater turtles to be both endearing and hilarious, they really make me smile.

 

Yes, that is a good point actually and I also wonder how stress could be reduced in captive freshwater turtles. I might have to check that out at some point and do some reading on the subject just out of curiosity.

I think that reintroduction can take a decade under some circumstances, yes, thats true.

However, there seem to be a number of freshwater turtle conservation programs which are able to reintroduce animals fairly quickly back to the wild to either reinvigour fading / declining populations or restore lost ones that were extirpated through overexploitation or other anthropogenic drivers.

 

Dermatemys mawii (Hickatee) is kept at iZoo in Japan; as of last year they have tried to breed them. I haven't followed up since if they have succeeded.

 

Did you see any native freshwater turtle species kept in Japanese zoos?

The Japanese pond turtle is a near threatened species too and I'm sure there are probably more Japanese endemic species of freshwater turtle.

 

Oh yeah, Japanese pond turtles are ubiquitous in zoos and aquariums there. The second most common of the Japanese native turtles in captivity there is the Reeves' turtle, and the third is the Amur softshell turtle. Then there are the Ryukyu endemics: the Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle, and subspecies of the Chinese box turtle and yellow pond turtle. Those are all kept in Okinawa. So I have seen every Japanese freshwater turtle species in their collections.

 

That is really excellent to hear that they are being kept so widely by Japanese zoos .

The Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle is a really striking little species too with that vibrant red and yellow colouration.

 

Not rare worldwide, but European pod turtle Emys orbicularis was a very common and widespread animal in temperate Europe ca 150 years ago, but currently is extremely local and rare.

It seems that the turtle was actually over-hunted for food, because its population crashed earlier than widespread draining of marshes or industrial pollution of rivers. There are scattered accounts of turtles being sold as food on markets, which could easily finish populations.

EAZA now is trying to start a recovery plan. A good move, and in my opinion long necessary. There were many local and small scale recovery plans, mostly by hobbyists. They were rare, because of some confusion which populations are native and which not, and attempts to protect only native populations, which usually cannot spread themselves naturally and often cannot recover naturally.

 

Thanks for your comment @jurek !

That is interesting, I did know that habitat loss and pollution had caused its decline in a lot of Europe but I didn't know that it was overexploited by hunters at one point too.

Where did the hunting of the species occur in Europe ?

I think that it is brilliant that EAZA are working on a recovery plan for the species and are now coordinating it and I hope that it achieves success in reintroducing the turtle back to areas where it was extirpated and strengthening the population where it has declined.

 

I´m not sure if European pond turtle was still widespread in Czechia 150 years ago. I did like to read some old cooking books, starting ca middle 19th century. Turtle is mentioned rarely and just a recipe for turtle meat or egg soup, and it mentioned it should be well washed first when can is opened. It means turtle was bought canned (imported preserved meat/eggs, more probably of sea turtles) and was a high-end product. Oersonaly, I would date extirpation deeper into history.

It´s clear why it was so much overhunted. Turtles were in Christian tradition considered to belong between fish and so they were allowed to be consumed during fasting periods, when "normal" meat was forbidden.