Pancake Tortoise

Pancake tortoises are small and flat with a thin, flexible shell. The shell is normally 6 to 7 inches long and an inch or so high. On the legs, they have bigger scales with points that project downward and outward. Usually the shell has radiating dark lines on the carapace (upper part of the shell). The plastron (bottom part of shell) is also pale yellow but with dark brown seams and light yellow rays. Juveniles have pale yellow top shells with black seams and yellow rays. Some may have brown spots on their back.
 

The carapace of juveniles is more domed than that of adults. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger and longer tails. However they are smaller than the females and have less distinctive patterns on their shell. The pancake tortoise is adapted to fitting into tight crevices. Even larger individuals are less than 2 inches high. The shell is so thin and flexible that the plastron moves in and out when the animal breathes. Since the tortoise ould easily be torn apart by predators, it relies on its speed and flexibility to escape from dangerous situations.

With the reduced weight of the shell, it can move much more quickly than other species. It was once thought that it could puff its body up with air to wedge itself in place, but this has been found not to be true. Instead, it orients its spiky legs outward so that it is almost impossible to dislodge. Also this animal can also climb vertically. Because they are so light they can turn themselves over with ease if they fall on their backs.

In the wild breeding is in January-February with nesting in July-August.They lay eggs that are about two inches long. The eggs can incubated at about 30 degrees Celsius for 140 to 190 days. Combat between males prior to breeding can lead to better reproductive success.  In captivity breeding can be any time of the year. Captive animals can live 25 years and perhaps longer. Source

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Painted Batagur

The Painted Batagur is the largest turtle living in fresh water. They are in danger of extinction because people take them as pets or to eat, and because of the deteriorating environments in and around the rivers they live in. Painted Batagurs live on the Malaysian peninsula, Sumatra Island, and Kalimantan Island. Painted Batagurs live in rivers and sometimes go near the ocean where the seawater mixes with the fresh water. They also lay eggs in sandy beaches like Green Turtles.

Additionally, there are efforts to increase their number by breeding. Although there are international restrictions against the sale and purchase of Painted Batagurs, there are still many efforts that need to be made to recover their numbers, such as making river environments safe for living in. The painted terrapin is critically endangered species according IUCN, listed in The World's Most 25 Endangered Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises 2011.

It is listed in Appendix II, with a zero quota for commercial trade of wild-captured specimens according to the CITES meeting in Thailand, March 2013. Batagur borneoensis is a priority species to be conserved in Indonesia according Minister of Forestry Decree No. 57 Year 2008 about Strategic Direction of National Species Conservation 2008-18. In Malaysia, this species is also protected.

Harvesting by fishermen to eat, poaching to meet pet and food demand, habitat loss due to land conversion to palm oil, and fish and shrimp farming are major threats. Conservation efforts in Sumatra, Indonesia, are ongoing to increase wild populations by carrying out nesting patrols to secure and hatch the eggs, for later release into original habitats. Source

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Przewalski's Horse

The Przewalski's Horse is the only remaining wild horse still surviving in the world. Once, it became extinct because it was hunted or it lost in the feeding frenzy with farm animals. Przewalski's Horse is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse  native to the steppes of central Asia, specifically China and Mongolia. At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve and Khomiin Tal.

In the wild, Przewalski's Horses live in social groups consisting of a dominant stallion, a dominant lead mare, other mares, and their offspring. The patterns of their daily lives exhibit horse behavior similar to that of feral horse herds. Each group has a well-defined home range; within the range, the herd travels between three and six miles a day, spending time grazing, drinking, using salt licks and dozing. At night, the herd clusters and sleeps for about four hours. Ranges of different herds may overlap without conflict, as the stallions are more protective of their mares than their territory.

With a short, muscular body, Przewalski’s horses are smaller than most domesticated horses. They have a pale belly and beige to reddish-brown coat that is short during summer and thicker and longer in winter. Their muzzle is white, and they don an erect and dark mane that lines their large head and neck. They stand about 12 to 14 hands tall at the shoulder, or about 48 to 56 inches (122 to 142 centimeters), and weigh about 440 to 750 pounds (200 to 340 kilograms). While extant in the wild, these horses ate grasses and other vegetation on the steppe, shrublands, and plains of western Mongolia and northern China.

In the 1960s, Przewalski's Horses disappeared once. They were hunted for their meat and hide. Others lost in the feeding frenzy with farm horses. In the 1990s, a project started to return Przewalski's Horses to the wild. Zoos in Europe raised Przewalski's Horses and returned them to wildlife sanctuaries in hometown, Mongolia, and the number of Przewalski's Horses in the wild is starting to increase, little by little. Source

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