Yellowbelly mud turtle  (Pelusios castanoides)

While the East African yellow-bellied mud turtle (P. c. castanoides) is not considered threatened, the Seychelles chestnut-bellied mud turtle (P. c. intergularis) teeters on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 100 adults estimated to remain in the wild in 2002 (1). This subspecies has a restricted and fragmented range on a handful of small islands, and is experiencing ongoing declines as a result of habitat loss and deterioration caused by drainage, pollution (rubbish dumping, sewage and/or pesticide run-off), marsh invasion by water lettuce, and possibly predation (1) (4).

The critically endangered Seychelles subspecies is protected under Seychelles law, and although absent from any formal reserves, the turtle’s range on Fregate and Silhouette are conservation managed areas (1). Effective conservation of this subspecies not only requires protection of its wetland habitats, however, but also the establishment of new populations within protected areas (4). To this end, the Nature Protection Trust of the Seychelles (NTPS) has established a captive breeding programme in which juveniles are reintroduced into secure reserves (4) (5).