Black Marsh Turtle

Measurement

Head to body length

Body weight (kg)

Justification

This species is listed as Critically Endangered as it’s population size is suspected to have decreased by more than 80% in the past three generations due to exploitation for national and international consumption, trade and habitat loss.

POPULATION & HABITAT

Wild population

Trend

declining

Myanmar population

Unknown

Global population

Unknown

Details

Uncommon in Myanmar, and suspected to be undergoing significant reductions in population size across continental South East Asia (80% in the last 50 years), as a result of habitat loss (due to logging and agricultural development). Reductions in Myanmar during this period are likely to be similar, or more serious. AOO of the species is 484 km2 and its EOO covers 353868.770 km2 in its habitats.

Habitat ecology

Inhabits wetland areas, swamps, peat swamps, and secondary forests. It is omnivorous. Generation length is estimated at approximately 18 years (age of first reproduction = 7 years, lifespan = 35 years, reproductive period = 0.4). Three generations correspond to 54 years.

Distribution

Threats to survival

Exploitation for national and international consumption. Habitat destruction (conversion of wetland habitats to agricultural land).

Instruction: The visualization shows threats that are impacting each species. According to IUCN, direct threats are the proximate human activities or processes that have impacted, are impacting, or may impact the the status of the taxon being assessed. Click of the highlighted icons to see details each threat category.

Use and trade

Collected for food consumption and merit release. Not common in international trade.

Conservation Actions

Research

Research undertaken

No specific conservation actions in place. It is listed as completely protected species by Conservation of Biodiversity and Protected Area Law (2018) and CITES Appendix II.

Research needed

Plans to establish a captive breeding programme. Plans to conduct research on conservation status, population size, and distribution.

Assessed by

Kalyar Platt,Me Me Soe,Htun Thu,Kyaw Thu Zaw Wint,Swann Htet Naing Aung,Ko Myint,Kyi Soe Lwin

Reviewed by

James Tallant,Monica Böhm

references

Resources

National Redlist of Threatened Species in Myanmar

PDF

The Myanmar National Red List of threatened species contributes to the GEF funded “Strengthening Sustainability of Protected Area Management in Myanmar” project. To support the National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan (2015-2020), Target 12 for commitment to prevent the extinction of known threatened species and improve their conservation status, the National Red List of some selected taxa has been produced. This report summarizes the assessment process and its results with detailed descriptions for some selected threatened species in Myanmar.

Download

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Extinction risk