Turtle Survival

although very low levels of illegal fishing practices
– such as spear fishing and the use of long
line hooks – were detected, the amount of land
clearance and illegal logging were found to be of
great concern to terrapin conservation efforts.
MONITORING THREAT LEVELS WITH
TECHNOLOGY AND LOCAL SUPPORT
To facilitate improved monitoring of threats
and adaptive site management, the Spatial
Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART)
management system was introduced in late 2014.
Refresher training in patrol strategies and data
collection for both SMART and GPS use was
provided to project staff. A SMART report is now
generated at the end of each month and patrol
data is carefully analyzed to determine next
month’s patrol objectives. The patrol team will be
expanded, later this year, to include an additional
law enforcement officer. The additional personnel
enables the project to deal more effectively
with illegal logging and land clearance.
In early 2015, three villages close to the release
site on the Kaong River were visited to inform
locals of the project’s plans to release a number
of the headstarted terrapins. Project leaders
asked the villagers for cooperation in reporting to
project personnel of any sightings or accidental
captures. More than a third of community members
from all three villages joined these meetings
and were very supportive of the release.
HEALTH MONITORING
In June 2015, the WCS Veterinary team, led
by Dr. Paul Calle, screened all of the terrapins for
release. A population level health assessment was
conducted to enable long term health monitoring.
At the same time, all the terrapins to be released
were fitted with acoustic transmitters to enable
post release monitoring,
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST
TERRAPIN RELEASE
In July 2015 the project released 21 healthy
sub-adult Southern River Terrapins to supplement
the wild population. Given the significance
of the species, the release of “The Royal Turtle”
was marked with a large ceremony and celebration
attended by senior government officials
along with more than 150 school children and
community members.
Surrounded by celebrants and well-wishers,
the 21 terrapins were released into a large seminatural,
soft release enclosure within a lake on
the Kaong River. They remained in the enclosure
for 3 to 4 weeks to become accustomed to their
new environment and to potentially engender
site fidelity. The released terrapins are currently
being monitored twice monthly to estimate
survival, movements, and habitat use. After the
first two months of monitoring, approximately
30% of released animals are still within the soft
release enclosure (which is no longer enclosed),
and more than 20% have travelled downstream
towards coastal areas. The collected monitoring
data allows the release program to be evaluated
and adapted to further enhance our understanding
of this species.
Local religious leaders bless the terrapins in a ceremony to mark the release of the “Royal Turtles” back into the wild.
PHOTO CREDIT: THIDA LEIPER/WCS
A NEW ADDITION TO THE TEAM
The project team was strengthened in 2015
by the recruitment and addition of Cambodian
biologist, Sitha Som. Mr Som recently completed
his Master’s degree in Environmental Management
in New Zealand, and has been working
with freshwater turtles and tortoises since
2004. He is a member of the IUCN Tortoise
and Freshwater Turtle Species Group and will
be responsible for implementing post-release
monitoring and providing general technical
support to all project activities.
Contacts: Sitha Som (ssom@wcs.org), Sarah Brook
(sbrook@wcs.org), Sovannara Heng. WCS, PO Box
1620, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Construction of the soft-release enclosure on a 1 hectare oxbow lake on the Kaong River begins. PHOTO CREDIT: WCS/SARAH BROOK
Acknowledgements: This conservation program is made
possible with support from the Turtle Survival Alliance,
SOS - Save Our Species, Critical Ecosystem Partnership
Fund, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, US Fish & Wildlife
Service, Turtle Conservation Fund, Pat Koval and an
anonymous donor.
a publication of the turtle survival alliance 45 visit us online at www.turtlesurvival.org