Critically endangered Burmese peacock softshell turtles hatch in Myanmar: Report

Burmese peacock softshell turtles, a critically endangered turtle species, have hatched from their eggs in Myanmar. According to a report by The New York Times (NYT) on Saturday (June 24), the hatchlings emerged from a hole in the ground earlier this month and began crawling to new lives in Indawgyi Lake. Their first steps were captured on film by Nyein Chan and U Yae Aung, local staff members of Fauna & Flora, an international wildlife charity.

The report said that the turtles were intercepted by Chan,a senior project officer, Aung,a project assistant, and others who weighed, measured, and released them.

Burmese peacock turtles only found in Myanmar

The Burmese peacock turtles, which are also known as Nilssonia Formosa are only found in Myanmar, and scientists know little about them. U Zau Lunn, a programme manager with Fauna & Flora, said that no one has done proper studies on the turtles. Lunn, whose team started working on preserving the turtles last year, said he and his staff were very pleased to have found the eggs and hatchlings so soon.

He credited this success to close collaboration with residents of the villages around Indawgyi Lake. The NYT report said that recently the wildlife charity gave money to people living on the lakeshore to form a team of "turtle guardians" and patrol the area to protect nesting sites.

In October last year, the community members and conservationists identified five turtle nests with about 20 eggs each and fenced them off. However, they did not know the species until the babies began hatching in June this year.

The threats to the species

The report pointed out that even though the turtle guardians protected the eggs, other threats to the turtle species remained including habitat loss, pollution, climate change, and accidental catches by fishermen. As per the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, about 40 per cent of all turtle and tortoise species were threatened.

The report also said that the total number of the Burmese peacock softshell turtles was unknown, but scientists suspected their population may have declined by at least 80 per cent over the past 90 years.

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