STUNG TRENG: Conservationists announced good news this week after a critically endangered elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) was spotted in Stung Treng.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Morodok Baitang said that the tortoise was found by its conservation team in Stung Treng’s Siam Pang District in September.

The elongated tortoise is on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered due to habitat loss, trapping for traditional medicines and food, and the pet trade. The omnivores exist in South and Southeast Asia and consume plant matter, leaves, fruits, mushrooms, and invertebrates.

The elongated tortoise is the most commonly confiscated turtle and tortoise species in the Eastern Plains of Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province. They spend most of their time resting in piles of leaf litter and rarely venture out into direct sunlight, so most of their activity occurs at dawn or dusk. They exhibit an increase in activity during the rainy season and are easily identified by their distinctive elongated shell.