An eighteen kilograms Cantor's soft-shell turtle lays on the floor before release at an opening of the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center in Kratie province, 160 kilometers (100 miles)
northeast Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Conservationists have opened a shelter in Cambodia for a rare type of endangered soft-shell turtle. An eighteen kilograms
Cantor's soft-shell turtle lays on the floor before release at an opening of the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center in Kratie province, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast Phnom Penh,
Cambodia, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Conservationists have opened a shelter in Cambodia for a rare type of endangered soft-shell turtle. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
The critically endangered Cantor's giant soft-shell turtle is one of the rarest freshwater turtles in the world. Scientists last saw one in the Cambodian wild in 2003, and small numbers have been
seen in neighboring Laos, while it appears to have disappeared from Vietnam and Thailand. U.S.-based Conservation International said it opened the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center
on Wednesday in Kratie province, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Phnom Penh. A 40-pound (18-kilogram) female turtle and six babies were released into the conservation
pond at a Buddhist pagoda on the Mekong River at the center's launch. The ceremony was attended by six Buddhist monks -- who blessed the female turtle by painting scared markings on
her body -- and more than 100 villagers. "Our goal is to conserve Cantor's turtle populations in their natural habitat, the Mekong River,
through the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center and the community-led nest protection scheme," Conservation International said in a statement.
Local fishermen currently collect both eggs and adult turtles for their own consumption and sale to restaurants, Conservation International said. Soft-shelled turtles are considered a delicacy in
many Asian diets, and rarity only adds to their value on menus or as traditional medicines. The species can grow up to 6 feet (2 meters) in length and weigh more than 110 pounds (50 kilograms).
