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(August 26, 2022) Illegal fishing is one of major threats to the conservation of fishery resources, especially the Critically Endangered Royal Turtles and the Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtles. Since 2019, the European Union-Partners against Wildlife Crime is supporting WCS and CRDT in Cambodia, to enhance protection of these species. To this end, an aquaculture project was implemented by WCS and CRDT across 14 villages in Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, Kratie and Stung Treng provinces. Through this initiative...

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(May 23, 2022) Kratie (May 23, 2022)—To mark World Turtle Day, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with Fisheries Administration celebrates the conservation of the Critically Endangered Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtles in Cambodia, by releasing 580 hatchlings into the wild​ along the Mekong River in Sambour district of Kratie province​. “With continuous support from our donors and good cooperation from the Fisheries Administration (FiA), plus strong commitments of our fiel...

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(May 20, 2022) Koh Kong, Cambodia (20 May 2022) – Thirty Royal Turtle babies hatched in an artificial sand bank at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center (KKRCC) last week. This is the second time that Royal Turtles have laid eggs in captivity in Cambodia. During the 2022 nesting season Royal Turtles in a captive-breeding group at KKRCC laid 81 eggs in nine clutches and 30 of them hatched. This compares favorably with 2021, when only one of 71 eggs in five clutches successfully hatched. At the sa...

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(May 13, 2022) (Phnom Penh) - Last week, the WCS Cambodia Wildlife Health Program organized a final meeting for the DTRA-supported WildHealthNet initiative. The purpose of the meeting was to share WildHealthNet activities and achievements over the last 3 years and discuss opportunities for network partners to maintain wildlife health surveillance during this transition to ensure long-term sustainability of the network. WildHealthNet was initiated in late 2018 with the objective to support capacity building ...

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(April 20, 2022) In 2022, a Royal turtle (Batagur affinis) at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Centre (KKRCC) has laid 80 new eggs which will soon hatch. This brings hope for environmentalists after only one of the 71 eggs laid last year hatched due to lack of conditions. Som Sitha, Project Manager of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), told The Post on April 11 that Steve – a one-year-old royal turtle – was the only egg among the 71 eggs that hatched at the (KKRCC) back in 2021. It was name...

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(March 15, 2022)   -   The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Cambodia has been providing people in communities and conservationists with training on data collection and recording with SMART

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(December 13, 2021) The White-shouldered Ibis is a relatively largely bird species, classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. This species is native to small regions of Southeast Asia. Populations of the White-shouldered Ibis declined severely in the late 20th century. Today, the global population is estimated at just 1,000 individuals, of which 670 are mature. Cambodia, by far, forms this species’ stronghold with the majority of the global population of individuals found here.  The C...

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(November 26, 2021) Kampong Seila (November 26, 2021) – The European Union (EU), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, today released 51 critically endangered Royal Turtles into the Sre Ambel River system in Kampong Seila district of Preah Sihanouk Province. All the 51 Royal Turtles, globally known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), were collected immediately after emerging from their nests along the Sre ...

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(October 28, 2021) Phnom Penh, 27  October 2021: Today, the EU Delegation to Cambodia and the  Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, formally launched, with WCS, Oxfam, Aide et Action, and Save the Children, four EU-funded projects to support green growth, jobs creation, social services, and better protection of natural resources for the fishing communities in 10 Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve and coastal provinces. Attending today the joint virtual launching workshop were around 320 participa...

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(September 21, 2021) The Southern River Terrapin, Batagur affinis, is a large river turtle with a carapace up to 625 mm in length. This species inhabits large rivers and estuaries of the southern Malay Peninsula (southern Thailand and West Malaysia), Sumatra, and a remnant population is found in Cambodia. The Southern River Terrapin is declining across Southeast Asia and listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and considered one of the world's 25 most endangered turtles. The popula...

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(August 13, 2021) Phnom Penh (August 13, 2021) – USAID mark ed the successful completion of the Keo Seima Conservation Project (KSCP) today with an online workshop that celebrated its achievements in forest conservation and community support. Speaking at the closing workshop, Laura Cizmo, Acting Office Director for Sustainable Economic Growth Office of USAID Cambodia, applauded the successful collaboration between USAID, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), communities in and around Keo Seima Wildlife Sanc...

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(July 23, 2021) Grab passengers are now offered the option to travel carbon neutral by purchasing carbon credits from the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary REDD+ project in Mondulkiri Province. Phnom Penh (July 23, 2021) – Passengers using the Grab ride-hailing app are offered the option to travel carbon neutral. A voluntary contribution allows passengers’ rides to be offset via carbon credits from the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) REDD+ project in Mondulkiri province. “We are thrilled to se...

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(July 16, 2021) Gaur are the largest cattle species in the world and one of the largest living land mammals. Due to their impressive size, gaur have few natural predators; only tigers have been known to kill healthy adult animals. Gaur are found in forested areas across South and Southeast Asia, however their distribution has shrunk by over 80% in the last 100 years. The global population of gaur decreased by 90% in the last half of the 20th century. It is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Vu...

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(March 20, 2021) The Ministry of Environment (MoE) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) extremely regret the loss of a Banteng and two Giant Ibis which were killed by offenders earlier this week. These sad two incidences happened at the same time in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) and Cheb Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) of Preah Vihear province. The carcass of Banteng was found by the community patrol team while they were patrolling the forest on March 17, 2021 in Sambo village, Srayang commune of Kulean di...

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(March 18, 2021) Sales of bamboo ornaments and utensils crafted by the Bamboo Producer Group in Sre Preah Community Protected Area (CPA) increased almost four times from $212 in 2019 to $806 in 2020. The reasons for this increase in income were that the Bamboo Producer Group diversified the bamboo products being made and improved their quality as a result of training delivered under the USAID KSCP, as well as behavior change in consumers who stopped using plastic items and switched to bamboo. Sre Preah Bamboo Pr...

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(March 11, 2021)  We stand for wildlife!

(March 02, 2021) Koh Kong, Cambodia (02 March 2021) –71 Royal Turtle eggs in five clutches were laid on an artificial sand bank at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center (KKRCC) early last week. Images obtained from camera traps confirmed that the eggs were laid by five head-started Royal Turtles. This is the first time that Royal Turtles have laid eggs in captivity in Cambodia. Four of the turtles were head-started from wild nests laid in 2006 on the Sre Ambel River, and one was handed over to the KKRCC...

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(January 28, 2021) Kampong Seila – The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Department of Fisheries Conservation of the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, ​​in collaboration with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), today released ten critically endangered Royal Turtles (Batagur affinis) into the Sre Ambel River system in Chamkar Luong commune, Kampong Seila district of Preah Sihanouk province. The release was made under a jointly funded project supported by th...

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(December 23, 2020) On Tuesday 22nd December 2020, WCS, the IBIS Rice Conservation Co., Ltd IRCC and Samsom Mlup Prey Organisation (SMP) were honored to welcome the H.E. Say Samal (Chairman of National Sustainable Development Council and Minister of Ministry of Environment) to the IBIS Rice warehouse located in Sangkat Phsar Derm Thkov, Phnom Penh. During his visit, his excellency was shown the manufacturing and packaging of wildlife-friendly and organic products and received the opportunity to taste some of the la...

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(December 04, 2020) Abstract In northern Cambodia, threatened wildlife, livestock and people are being poisoned by pesticides deposited in seasonal waterholes. Addressing this critical conservation threat requires understanding the drivers of poisoning behaviours and the social contexts in which they occur. This study across 10 communities in two protected areas aimed to provide a first assessment of this phenomenon. We used the theory of planned behaviour to measure socio-psychological determinants of behaviour a...

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