A Lazarus species
The Burmese roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata) is a large freshwater turtle endemic to Myanmar's major rivers, including the Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, Sitaung, and lower Salween. Historically common, its populations collapsed due to the systematic collection of its eggs, overharvesting of adults for food and traditional medicine, and the conversion of its nesting beaches into agricultural fields. By the 1970s, it was widely believed to be extinct. The story changed in 2001 when a team of conservationists discovered the shell of a recently killed turtle, providing the first evidence of its survival. Soon after, live individuals were found in a wildlife market in China and in the ponds of a pagoda in Mandalay. These few surviving animals formed the nucleus of a last-ditch captive breeding effort.
Today, the wild population remains perilously small, with estimates of only five to six adult females and perhaps as few as two males surviving in a remote stretch of the upper Chindwin River. Conservation programs, led by organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), now manage a captive population approaching 1,000 individuals, a number that safeguards against total biological extinction. Eggs laid by the few remaining wild females are carefully collected each year, incubated at a secure facility in Limpha Village, and the hatchlings are "head-started"—raised in captivity until they are large enough to be less vulnerable to predators before being released.
A river of threatened reptiles
Myanmar has high for chelonian diversity, with at least 27 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises, eight of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Many of these face similar threats to the Burmese roofed turtle. Rampant illegal harvesting for food, medicine, and the international pet trade—primarily sold in markets in southern China—has decimated populations. Habitat loss from agriculture, dam construction, and gold mining adds to the problem.
Several other species in the Chindwin River and other Myanmar waterways are critically endangered. The Burmese peacock softshell turtle (Nilssonia formosa), named for the distinct spots on its shell, is heavily harvested for food markets in East Asia. Its population is suspected to have declined by over 80 percent in the last 90 years. The Burmese narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra vandijki), one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world with a carapace length of up to one meter, is also critically endangered due to overharvesting for its meat. Conservation efforts for these species often involve protecting nesting sites and translocating eggs to secure hatcheries, similar to the strategies used for the Burmese roofed turtle. The Arakan forest turtle (Heosemys depressa), endemic to the Arakan Hills, is another critically endangered species threatened by poaching and deforestation.