YOKOHAMA – A zoo south of Tokyo has announced that it has successfully reared a ploughshare turtle, which is on the brink of extinction.

Nogeyama Zoo in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is the only zoo in Japan that keeps ploughshare turtles. After a baby turtle hatched in May, their population at the zoo has now grown to 11.

According to the zoo, the turtle’s parents were placed under protection and kept at the facility starting in 2011, following an alleged violation of the Law on the Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. extinction. The mother turtle laid an egg on November 15, 2020, which was transferred to an incubator and hatched about six months later on May 26 of this year. The sex of the baby turtle is unknown. Its shell, or carapace, measured 3.5 centimeters. It can be seen by the public in a tank at the zoo.

The ploughshare turtles are endemic to the island of Madagascar. In the 1970s, their numbers declined dramatically due to deforestation and other reasons. The species have a distinctively shaped gular scale under their neck that stretches out like the bow of a boat.

(Japanese original by Sachi Fukushima, Yokohama Office)