Heosemys depressa
Arakan Forest Turtle

    • Habitat:
      Mountainous evergreen and bamboo forests
    • Threats:
      - Habitat destruction
      - Collection for local consumption and foreign pet and meat trades
    • Conservation Efforts:
      - Captive breeding and assurance colonies
      - Field surveys
      - Protected in Myanmar
      - CITES Appendix II
    • Wild Population:
      Decreasing
      Habitat loss accounts for more than 80% of decline
      Individuals increasingly difficult to find
    • Endangered Status:
      Critically Endangered

Fast Facts

Some of the limited studies of H. depressa in the wild have shown that a portion of their diet consists of “unidentified vegetation, bamboo flowers, and immature bamboo seeds”.

Species Snapshot

After 86 years of obscurity, in 1994, it was rediscovered in an Asian food market. In the three decades since, researchers have documented wild populations and established assurance colonies.

The turtles appear to move very little during the dry season, and then become extremely active at the onset of the annual monsoon in late May or early June. During the wet season, movements of several kilometers have been reported.