Baby Royal Turtles - 5th June 2020

South west Cambodia now has 23 new Royal Turtles. This is more than the total from the last three years.

The Royal Turtle is the national animal of Cambodia. It’s also known as the Southern River Terrapin.

People used to hunt the turtles for their eggs and meat. So many were killed that experts thought they were extinct.

But in 2001, a small group of turtles were found living in the Sre-Ambel river. Now, the turtles and their habitat are protected. Experts are working to give the turtles a better environment. Nobody is allowed to hunt them. There is control over other activities so the habitat is growing.

Another endangered turtle is the Cantor’s giant soft shell turtle. But this year, they have laid more eggs. So far, there are 824 baby turtles.