Some 1,756 eggs of rare Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtles found in Cambodia portion of Mekong River

PHNOM PENH: Conservationists have discovered 49 nests of the rare Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtles with 1,756 eggs on sandbars along the Mekong River in northeast Cambodia's Kratie and Stung Treng provinces during the nesting season this year, a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) statement said Monday (May 25).

Although this was only two nests more than in the 2019 nesting season, the number of eggs was much higher than in recent years, the statement said, adding that as of Friday, 824 baby turtles hatched from 41 nests, of which 657 hatchlings were released into the wild, while the rest were under care for future release.