Elevating the survival prospects of Southern River Terrapin in Malaysia
Project aims
Secure 1,600 eggs for incubation from four known nesting banks in the Kemaman River
Head start 400 hatchlings
Tag and release 500 healthy hatchlings into the Kemaman River
Conduct 10 monitoring surveys to assess the survival of post-release hatchlings and to remove threats
Results
Collaborations between TCSM and Malaysia’s DWNP (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) resulted in a total of 668 (in the 2022 breeding season) and 1,037 (2023 breeding season)
Southern River Terrapin eggs being collected for incubating and head starting.
For unknown reasons, there were only 76 hatchlings in 2022. This number increased to 638 in 2023, giving a hatching success rate of 61.5% for 2023.
At least 500 headstarted turtles were tagged or microchipped and released into the Kemaman River
340 kg of damaged and discarded illegal fishing gear were removed from the surveyed rivers
Reports
AT A GLANCE
Organisation: Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia
Country: Malaysia
Year project started: 2021
Species: Southern River Terrapin