Zoo hatches endangered Asian turtle

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/01/turtle.birth.ap/index.html

POSTED: 3:12 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

An Arakan forest turtle in Zoo Atlanta was hatched. This is the fourth of the Arakan forest turtle to be born there. Zoo Atlanta is the only facility in the world to successfully breed these turtles. They were believed to be extinct for close to a century, but were later rediscovered in an Asian foodmarket in the mid 1990s. The Arakan forest turtle is endangered due to the fact that many people use it for cooking and medical uses. The turtle, native of Arakan hills has a horrible survival rate, and the turtle only mates once a year. The turtle eggs take 100 days to hatch. Zoo Atlanta has a pair of mating turtles since 2001, they manage to buy the two turtles from a Chinese Food Market. There are only 12 of the turtles living in captivity in the U.S; Zoo Atlanta, the St. Louis Zoo, the Miami Metro Zoo and River Banks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.

I think we should try to have more facilities in the world to help breed Arakan forest turtle. Because there is only one facility in the world that can successfully breed them. Arakan forest turtles are extremely rare and its sad to see that people are not recognizing this, and are continuing to kill them for food and medical use.