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| Latin name | Orlitia borneensis |
| Head & Body Length | up to 80cm |
| Weight | 36-50kg |
| No. of Eggs | 40 |
| Lifespan | 25-40 years |
Malaysian Giant Pond Turtles are found in Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sumatra. They live in the Lowland wetlands.
They are omnivorous with their diet consisting of fruit, plants, small fish and sometimes even small snakes.
These turtles reach sexual maturity around 10-20 years of age. Females nest on riverbanks or river islands. Around 40 eggs are laid each time, which are elongated with hard but brittle shells. Young hatchlings are around 60cm in length and their shell is hard, brittle and has a rough texture which will be come smoother as it grows. The speed of the development and the sex of the hatchlings are determined by the temperature at incubation.
Malaysian Giant Pond Turtles are the largest of the freshwater turtles and have a shell length of about 80cm. The majority of these turtles are dark coloured. Their shells are black, brown or dark grey with no patterns. The neck, limbs and tail are also black, brown or grey. Their head is dark with a single light coloured line which begins at the mouth and continues to the back of the head. The bottom of their shell is yellowish or light brown. The shell is narrow, flat and oval with the top being rounded and smooth. They have a large, broad head and a protruding snout. These turtles have webbed toes, fingers and outer forelimbs with band like scales on them. The carapace (the top shell) and the plastron (the bottom shell) are strongly joined together. Females have a shorter and thinner tail than males.
Turtles do not have teeth; instead they have horny ridges that are serrated and sharp on their lower and upper jaw. Turtles cannot stick their tongues out of their mouths but they can smell. They do this by flapping the loose skin under their chin or throat moves air over their Jacobson’s organ.
As turtles grow, they shed their shell. This shed skin resembles a burnt leaf. The shell of young Giant Malaysian Pond Turtles is high and peaked, becoming flatter, narrower and smooth as they become older. A turtle’s backbone is attached to its top shell.
This species of turtle have an aggressive nature but very little is known about the behavior or lifestyle of this creature.
Like all other turtles, Malaysian Giant Pond Turtles are reptiles so cannot create their own body heat; they are entirely reliant on the temperature of their surroundings to keep them warm.
There are about 272 species of turtle known to man and at least half of these are classified as extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction. Turtles and tortoises are traded for their meat, shells, for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine and for the pet trade. This trade is totally out of control. Turtle meat is considered a delicacy in China and turtle shell is thought to cure many ailments and because of this, these animals are collected in large numbers and illegally smuggled to markets in crates. Turtles are crammed into crates and piled on top of each other with no food or water and are often injured when being captured. Many die from dehydration or injury in the process. As turtles are caught by hook and line, the hook is often left lodged in the mouth. The turtles that do survive the journey are then butchered in an inhuman and cruel way. This trade is enormous; it is estimated that 12 million turtles are sold in China each year. Habitat destruction is also contributing to the turtle’s problems. Woburn Safari Park’s three Giant Malaysian Pond Turtles were rescued from consignment in the Far East. 60% of the turtles in that shipment died in transit. When this shipment was intercepted in Hong Cong, the surviving turtles were rescued and sent to animal collections across the world. This year, Woburn Safari Park, in conjunction with EAZA and its other members across Europe, will be participating in the ‘ShellShock’ campaign which aims to raise awareness about turtles and to raise money to fund much needed conservation projects to help this very threatened animal.
- Turtles and tortoises have lived on Earth for over 250 million years. They have seen the rise and fall of dinosaurs, seen the first birds fly and seen the evolution of humans.
- Some types of turtle can live to be over 200 years old.
- Stupendemys geographicus was a prehistoric turtle that was 10 ft long and weighed 4 000 to 5 000lbs.
- A group of turtles is called a ‘bale’ of turtles.
- The largest turtle in the world is the Leathery Turtle. Its shell is up to 2.4m long and it can weigh up to 860kg.