On the Brink of Extinction: Results of a 20-Year Quest for Eiselt's Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis eiselti) in Southeastern Turkey
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2021
Yazarlar: Dinçer AYAZ, Yusuf BAYRAKCI, Kerim ÇİÇEK, Flora Ihlow, CEMAL VAROL TOK, Uwe Fritz
CHELONIAN CONSERVATION AND BIOLOGY, SCI Expanded İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, Scopus, 2021, cilt 20, ss 222-230
DOI: 10.2744/ccb-1505.1
Özet
Eiselt's pond turtle (Emys orbicularis eiselti) was described in 1998, based on only 4 museum specimens collected in the 1960s and 1970s. Its distribution range has been massively reduced by large-scale drainage measures and only little suitable habitat remains near the Turkish-Syrian border. During 20-yr-long fieldwork we could locate only 18 individuals of this subspecies. We estimate the number of surviving Eiselt's pond turtles to be less than 100 mature individuals in the wild. The distribution range (area of occupancy) in the Amik Maras Rift Valley shrank from originally 11,612 km(2) to only 206 km(2) at present (approx. 2%), qualifying E. o. eiselti as a Critically Endangered taxon. Without immediate conservation measures and the strict protection of the remaining habitat, the subspecies will soon be extinct.