Rote snake-necked turtle

We house an insurance colony at Singapore Zoo to safeguard the Rote snake-necked turtle, the only one for the species in Asia. The turtles under our care were sent to us from breeding programmes in the United States and Austria in 2015.

After years of planning, 13 of these turtles finally made it back to their native country of Indonesia in September 2021, in a joint effort led by The Ministry of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia (MOEF) and Balai Besar KSDA Nusa Tenggara Timur (Bbksda Ntt) Province with the support of Mandai Nature, Singapore Zoo, and Wildlife Conservation Society – Indonesia Program (WCS-IP) WCS Indonesia.

It is the first repatriation of its kind for the species and marks a significant milestone in the ongoing conservation efforts for turtles.