Making a Comeback 

Steven Platt, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, helped start a program to protect the turtles in Myanmar. He spends two months a year living along the Chindwin River. Ten female turtles were discovered there. Every February and March, the turtles climb out of the river and lay about 25 eggs each. They bury the eggs in the sand so the baby turtles can develop inside until they’re ready to hatch.

During this time, Platt’s team hires locals to camp along the river. Each morning, they check for turtle tracks and call Platt if they see any. “When the call comes, we don’t eat breakfast. We go straight to the beach and follow the tracks in the damp sand,” says Platt. The team carefully digs up the eggs and buries them at a protected campsite. The turtles develop naturally there under the sand. Scientists guard the site to protect the eggs from other animals until they hatch.

Baby turtles, called hatchlings, move slowly and are less than3 inches long. They’re easy meals for predators. In the wild, only 1 in 10 of the hatchlings survive to adulthood. To increase their chances, Platt’s team raises the hatchlings in captivity until they’re about 15 inches long. Once they’re big enough, the turtles are ready to be set free. Locals gather along the Chindwin River to release them. “We have a big celebration at the release,” says Platt. “Everyone who works on the project is a local, and we want to thank the village for their help.”

So far, Platt and the team have raised more than 1,000 turtles in captivity. They’ve released more than 50 into the wild that are big enough. Already, more females are laying eggs that contain developing baby turtles.

The Burmese roofed turtles’ progress is exciting, but scientists say that they’re still among the most endangered turtles in the world. “We have a long way to go to get a healthy number into the wild,” says Platt. “But I’m hopeful for the future.”