Discovery of Cuora picturata in the Wild (Via Herp Digest)

I am pleased to report the discovery of Cuora picturata in the wild based on field observations of eight turtles in southern Vietnam. This species had previously been known to scientists only from animals found in trade. The fieldwork was performed by Tri Ly, who is a Vietnamese student at University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, with primary support from the Turtle Conservation Fund.

The in press version of the paper has been released on the journal's website. The paper and its online Appendix can be downloaded here: www.files.me.com/bryanlstuart/xpn7mn

Ly, T., H. D. Hoang, and B. L. Stuart. In press. Market turtle mystery solved in Vietnam. Biological Conservation.

Abstract

Asian turtles are overharvested for food, medicinal purposes and pets, and most species are now at risk of extinction ('Asian turtle crisis'). As a result of high levels of trade, some species of Asian turtles are known to science mostly or only from animals found in trade. The Vietnamese box turtle (Cuora picturata) was described in 1998 and is known only from markets. This species is likely to be highly threatened, and identifying the origin of this ''market species'' is imperative if it is to be conserved. We used evidence from phylogeny, biogeography and trade patterns to focus field searches for this species, and in July 2010-January 2011 found it in the wild at three localities on the Langbian Plateau of southern Vietnam. This discovery provides the first opportunity to conserve the Vietnamese box turtle, and provides hope for determining the wild origin of other rare Asian turtles that remain known only from commercial trade.

This is not the normal sort of source for news stories here on the newsblog, but having thought long and hard, it IS a news item, and belongs here rather than on the main blog. It is also jolly good news. Well done chaps JD