<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Dear
Sir/Madam,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ho
Chi Minh City, October 5, 2012</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> – A critically endangered “royal turtle” is
heading home to Cambodia today after an almost 30-year stay in Vietnam. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The
large mangrove terrapin (<i>Batagur affinis</i>) was first discovered by staff
from Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) in October 2010, at the </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Suối</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">
Ti</span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ê</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">n Cultural Resort on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh
City. </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Mr. Đinh Văn Vui, CEO of Suối Tiên
Cultural Tourism Ltd., the turtle has been kept here since the 1980s. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ENV spent nearly two years working with Mr.
Vui, CITES Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City authorities, and counterparts from the
Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture-Forestry-Fisheries, to secure the turtle’s
return. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“We
thank Mr. Vui for his decision, because this turtle is particularly important
to Cambodia,” says Mr. Tran Viet Hung, Vice Director of ENV. “Cambodians value
this species as part of their culture, referring to it as the ‘royal turtle’
because at one time Cambodia’s king declared the turtle to be protected by a
royal decree and strictly prohibited its hunting.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However,
wild populations of the species in Cambodia have declined remarkably over the
past few decades, and today are found mainly in the Sre Ambel River system in
the southern coastal region. Last year, only three females were confirmed
to have nested on the sandy riverbanks in this region, a stable but dangerously
small fraction of a once-robust local population. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Batagur was handed over to the Cambodian Ministry
of Agriculture-Fisheries-Forestry at a special ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City
today. It will now be transferred to the Batagur Conservation Project in the
Sre Ambel River system in Cambodia, where it will be introduced into a
conservation breeding program in an effort to boost the drastically low
populations and increase the genetic diversity of this species.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ENV wishes to thank all of the partners who helped
send this turtle home, including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in
Cambodia for assisting ENV in coordinating the Cambodian side of the return,
and Ms. Đoàn Nguyễn Thùy Trang of the National Assembly for supporting the
return and ultimately making it happen. ENV also wishes to thank the Humane
Society International for their support in this important species transfer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">For further information, please
find in the following link: </span><a href="http://envietnam.org/E_News/Daily_News/farewell_royal_turtle.html"><i>http://envietnam.org/E_News/Daily_News/farewell_royal_turtle.html</i></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Best regards,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hoang
Hue Linh (Ms.)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Communication
and Public Awareness Unit</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Education
for Nature - Vietnam (ENV)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">No. 5 IF1, lane 192 Thai Thinh street, Dong Da district, Hanoi<br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">PO Box
222, Hanoi<br>
Tel/fax: +84 4 35148850 (Ext: 404); +84 94 635 8488</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">E-mail:
<a href="mailto:communication.env@gmail.com">communication.env@gmail.com</a><a name="_GoBack"></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Website:
<a href="http://www.envietnam.org/">www.envietnam.org</a> (English), <a href="http://www.thiennhien.org/">www.thiennhien.org</a> (Vietnamese) </span></p>