It’s World Turtle Day! Did you know that Vietnam is home to 26 species of freshwater turtles and tortoise?  The Southern Vietnamese box turtle, Cuora picturata, and the Vietnamese pond turtle, Mauremys annamensis, are endemic to Vietnam, meaning it’s the only place in the world that they are found in the wild!

One of Conservation Nation’s established grantees is Lauren Augustine from the Philadelphia Zoo. For over a decade she has worked to support turtle conservation efforts in Vietnam through collaborations with the Asian Turtle Program of Indo Myanmar Conservation and the Turtle Conservation Center in Cuc Phuong National Park. Here in the U.S., Lauren is the manager of the Southern Vietnamese box turtle Species Survival Plan, which cares for the population of turtles across facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).  Last year she successfully hatched an offspring of two genetically valuable adults, a major milestone for this critically endangered species.