I feel as though it is safe to say that most of us like turtles. And, really, I don’t see how anyone could dislike turtles, except perhaps if there was a tortoise-related traumatic incident that provoked someone’s dislike for them. But, generally speaking, turtles are a very loved member of the animal kingdom.
In case you needed a reason to like turtles even more, as it turns out, there is a type of turtle that appears to always be smiling, and it has recently been spared from extinction, says an article from The Good News Network.
Known as the Burmese roofed turtle, “… the existence of (the) species, native to Myanmar’s Irrawaddy river region, (has been) in serious doubt.
“Over-hunting for food, medicinal use, and the pet trade, as well as reckless egg harvesting, improper electro-fishing techniques, and destruction of natural turtle habitat had all but wiped the once-flourishing reptiles from the face of the planet.
“In fact, by the 1990s, the species was thought to be extinct. It wasn’t until 2001, when a likely smuggled specimen turned up in a Hong Kong pet shop, that conservationists began to hope at least some small portion of their population had survived.
“Heartened by the news, biologist Gerald Kuchling, who’s now with the University of Western Australia, along with the Myanmar Forest Department launched a joint survey expedition of the upper Chindwin River, a site Burmese roofed turtles were once known to inhabit,” the article says.
And while this initiative was sadly disrupted by a monsoon, “On one of his days off, Dr. Kuchling happened to visit a turtle pond at a Buddhist temple in Mandalay. To his infinite surprise, he found three of the elusive critters smiling up at him from the murky water … (and) with the blessing of the temple board, Dr. Kuchling and his Burmese colleagues moved one male and two female turtles to the Mandalay Zoo.
“Thanks to subsequent (Wildlife Conservation Society) (WCS) efforts and the Turtle Survival Alliance, approximately 1,000 of the turtles have been successfully raised in captivity and are soon to be released into the wild. The WCS reports the species faces ‘little danger of biological extinction’ at this point,” explains the article.
I think this is a pretty fine example of some positive news to share with others.
#SaveTheTurtles
ontheedgeofeverything 