Dr. Steven G. Platt, a former professor of Biology at Sul Ross State University, has published an extensive study on the Burmese Roofed Turtle (Batagur trivittata), a species once believed to be extinct. The study, released in May, details the rediscovery and conservation efforts that have helped save the rare turtle in Myanmar.
The Burmese Roofed Turtle was once widespread and abundant in Myanmar. By the late 1990s, it was considered extinct until it was rediscovered in the early 2000s. The research relied heavily on the traditional ecological knowledge of villagers living along the rivers. Dr. Platt and his team visited 243 villages, towns, and encampments, interviewing more than 1,400 people. They discovered that the species was now restricted to a 21-kilometer stretch of one river.
In 2004, a captive breeding group was established in Mandalay with five females and three males. This initiative has been highly successful, with the population exceeding 1,000 turtles by late 2023. As a result, the Burmese Roofed Turtle is no longer considered at high risk of biological extinction.
Dr. Platt currently serves as an Associate Conservation Herpetologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society-Myanmar Program and the Turtle Survival Alliance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Louisiana State University and a Master of Science from Southeastern Louisiana University. Following an internship and crocodile research in Australia, he began his doctoral degree at Clemson University, focusing his dissertation on Morelet’s crocodile in Belize.
Dr. Platt taught in the SRSU Department of Biology from 2006 to 2011. In 2011, he and his wife, Dr. Kalyar Platt, accepted a joint appointment from the Wildlife Conservation Society to work in Myanmar and other areas of Southeast Asia.
For more details about the study and Dr. Platt’s ongoing work, visit the Wildlife Conservation Society’s website.
SRSU Photo: Dr. Steven G. Platt holds the shell of a Burmese Roofed Turtle, thought to have been extinct until recently.
