NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (Yangon, Myanmar) 09 July 05 Rare tree-climbing turtle arrives Yangon Zoo
Yangon: A near-extinct tree-climbing turtle that lays only one or two eggs at a time was found and captured in Nampalat creek in Namhsan, Shan State (South), on 26 May 2005.
Experts of Taunggyi University after examining and naming the animal “chameleon turtle (a) lizard turtle (a) parrot turtle”, sent it to Yangon Zoological Gardens.
So rare that it is a single species of a single genus of a family and the only kind of turtle species that can climb trees. The turtle has a tail whose length is longer than that of the shell brownish green in colour on the surface facing the sky and yellow on the surface facing the ground.
The species can be found in the natural watercourses of Shan, Mon, Kayin, Kayah and Rakhine states and Bago and Taninthayi divisions of Myanmar.
A carnivore, its shell can grow up to 18.4 centimetres in length. The turtle that was found in the Nampalat creek has a 18-centimetre shell. Its total length from the tip of head to the end of tail is 39 centimetres. The turtle arrived at Yangon Zoo on 29 June.
Rare tree-climbing turtle arrives Yangon Zoo