A Kemaman village released 690 of the world's rarest river terrapins
On October 3, neighbors in Kampung Pasir Gajah sent a record group of southern river terrapin hatchlings into the Kemaman River.
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A village on Malaysia's east coast marked its largest river-terrapin release in the history of a project that began in 2011. The New Straits Times reported on October 24, 2026, that 690 southern river terrapin hatchlings went into the Kemaman River at Kampung Pasir Gajah on October 3.
The Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia, led by Chen Pelf Nyok, collected 1,673 eggs during a 34-day nesting window in February and March. Of those, 1,254 hatchlings emerged. Keepers raised them for about four months, then chose 690 for the river. The society says that since 2011 it has incubated 13,224 eggs and released more than 8,000 young turtles.
The southern river terrapin, Batagur affinis, is critically endangered. In Malaysia it is protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and is known from rivers in Kedah, Perak, Terengganu, and Pahang, not from Sabah or Sarawak. Release day also included a coloring session, a bracelet workshop, and a pre-loved clothes exchange. One large release does not by itself rebuild the species. It does show a village staying with the work for fifteen years.
For the classroom
The New Straits Times reported on October 24, 2026, that a village in Kemaman, Malaysia, released 690 baby southern river terrapins into the Kemaman River on October 3. That was the biggest single release since the project began in 2011. The Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia had collected 1,673 eggs earlier in the year. 1,254 babies hatched and were raised for about four months before the strongest group went to the river. These turtles are critically endangered. Since 2011 the project has incubated 13,224 eggs and released more than 8,000 hatchlings. Families joined a coloring session and a bracelet workshop on release day.
- Why would a village raise turtle eggs for months before putting the babies in a river?
- What is one way people who do not live in Kemaman can still help a rare turtle?
- Where is Terengganu, and what kind of river habitat do these terrapins need?
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