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Mongabay
Mongabay
Bangladesh’s population of one of the world’s largest tortoise species received a boost last month when researchers and villagers released 10 captive-bred juveniles into the evergreen forests of the Chattogram Hill Tracts. This initiative, in the rugged mountain range in the extreme southeast of the country bordering Myanmar and India, was the first rewilding of the Asian giant tortoise in the country. The species, Manouria emys, is critically endangered due to heavy hunting pressure and habitat destruction throughout its range across South and Southeast Asia. Tipping the scales at 35 kilogram…