Rare turtle hatchlings found in Cambodia

Conservationists in Cambodia believe efforts to save a rare species of turtle are paying off, with more hatchlings found this year than in the previous three years combined.

23 newly-hatched Royal Turtles were found in three nests on two sandy beaches in Koh Kong Province, according to the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

While one of the two beaches is used every year for nesting, it's the first time turtles have nested on the other beach since 2007, it said.

WCS released video showing a team measuring the hatchlings, close to where they were found, then taking them to a conservation centre.

The IUCN, the global authority on the status of species, lists the Royal Turtle as critically endangered.

Properly known as the Southern River Terrapin, it was thought to be extinct in Cambodia until 2000, when a small population was found in the Sre Ambel river.

Since then, local hunters have been employed to search for and protect nests rather than harvesting them, according to WCS.

This community-based programme has been helped, they said, by government legislation to protect the turtles' habitat from sand-dredging.

The Royal Turtle is one of the world's 25 most threatened freshwater turtles and tortoises. It is also Cambodia's National Reptile.