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Posted by pjay on January 22, 2003 at 17:36:26:
In Reply to: Re: The species is from a northwestern region... posted by Batagur on January 22, 2003 at 09:29:22:
I'll guess the island is Sulawesi and the turtle is L. yuwonoi. No offense intended.
:of a remote island that the Dutch colonized. However, I doubt that they (the Dutch or anyone else for that matter) ever came across these turtles. The region where they are found has no settlement except for small villages. The turtles are deep in the forests and until China's money became convertible in the mid-80's and the popularity of the reptile trade took off in the late 80's - early 90's, villagers had no reason to collect these turtles except for the occasional dinner item. Even today, very few tourists travel this region.
:I should have said that I am one of only 4 known westerners that have traveled specifically to see this turtle in the wild. One a reptile dealer, one a herpetologist like myself, and the other, my wife. Even western biologists/scientists that work for WCS and other organizations that have been stationed for years on this island doing field work have never seen this turtle (again, this reflects the extreme remoteness of the turtle's range in the wild).
