A preliminary assessment of chelonian diversity in the montane forests of two areas in northern Vietnam

Abstract

Very little is known of the ecology and distribution of Vietnamese tortoises and freshwater turtles, even though Vietnam is one of the world’s hotspots of chelonian diversity and, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), almost all its species are threatened. We report the diversity of chelonians for two distinct areas of northern Vietnam (in three provinces) characterised by forested hills and mountains, with ponds and streams. We observed ten species in Lang Son/Bac Giang provinces and 11 species in Lao Cai province. Reportedly, the two most frequently recorded species were Pelodiscus sinensis and Cuora mouhotii. Most species were Endangered or Critically Endangered according to IUCN, thus making the protection of the forest habitats of these provinces of crucial relevance for the survival of these species. Reliable records for the almost extinct Rafetus swinhoei were collected, but all of them refer to the end of the 1970s.