Saturday 25 May
Endangered Species of the Week: Kakapo - the World's Favourite Species!

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Testudines |
| Family | Bataguridae |
| Genus | Batagur (1) |
The batagur is one of Asia's largest freshwater turtles; individuals can reach up to 60 cm in length (2). The shell (carapace) is brown and the body colour varies both between the sexes and in different seasons; mature males develop an intense black colour and dramatically white eyes during the breeding season (2).
Little is known about the natural ecology and behaviour of batagurs, partly because the highly silted rivers of their habitat make observations particularly difficult (5). Individuals are known to undertake massive seasonal migrations of 50 to 60 miles to the sand banks that constitute their breeding grounds (2). Females usually lay three clutches of between 10 and 30 eggs each during the breeding season (2); when she has laid her clutch of eggs she covers the nest with sand and then rises and falls on the surface to compact the sand, the resultant rhythmic 'tun tonk' sound has led to the species' Malay name of 'tuntong' (6).
TopFound in central and southeast Asia, from India and Bangladesh eastwards to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia (4).
TopBatagurs are found in the estuaries and tidal reaches of large rivers (5).
TopClassified as Critically Endangered (CR - A1cd) on the IUCN Red List 2002 (1), and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).
TopNumbers of batagur have been decimated by the loss of habitat and the over-collection of both adults and eggs (5). Recently, there has been an increase in the market for turtle meat and eggs in Asia and the resulting unsustainable harvest has pushed many species to the brink of extinction (7). It is estimated that batugars in Malaysia declined by over 90% during the 20th Century (8), and the species is now considered to be Critically Endangered (1).
TopThese turtles are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (3); international trade is thus prohibited, although illegal collection is still widespread (1). The Bronx Zoo in New York has recently achieved the first captive breeding of batagurs and this may offer a glimmer of hope for the survival of this fascinating turtle (5).
TopMore »Related species
Image credit
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.