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

Read More

Box Turtle

The box turtle or box tortoise is a genus of turtle native to North America. Box turtles are land dwelling creatures with high, domed shells, hence the "box" moniker.  Box turtles are found all over the world, and are generally found living in mossy areas of the forest, or other damp habitats.  They are very territorial, and sometimes spend their entire lives near their place of birth.

North American box turtles are omnivores with a very varied diet as box turtles "basically eat anything it can catch". Invertebrates (amongst others insects, earth worms, millipedes) form the principal component, but the diet also consists for a large part (reports range from 30-90%) of vegetation. The diet is amended with fruits (amongst others from cacti, apples and several species of berry), gastropods.

While reports exist that during their first five to six years, box turtles are primarily carnivorous, while adults are mostly herbivorous, there is no scientific basis for such a difference. They are strong, sturdy animals, and usually grow to be about 6 inches long.  Box turtles are usually dark in coloring with some yellowish markings, and the male of the species have bright red eyes, longer tails, and their plastrons are indented.

Box turtles are endemic to North America. The widest distributed species is the common box turtle which is found in the United States (subspecies carolina, major, bauri, triunguis; South-Central, Eastern and South Eastern parts) and Mexico (subspecies yukatana and mexicana; Yucatán peninsula and North Eastern parts). The Ornate box turtle is endemic to the south-central and South Western parts of the U.S.  while the spotted box turtle is endemic to North-Western Mexico only. Source

Read More