Conservationists have discovered 13 nests of the endangered Asian giant softshell turtles with 444 eggs on sandbars along the Mekong River in northeast Cambodia's Kratie province during the nesting season, a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) statement said on January 16.

The Asian giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as globally endangered.

The species was thought to be extinct in the Cambodian portion of the Mekong River until its re-discovery in 2007 in a 48-kilometer stretch of the river in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, the statement said.

"Conservationists from Community Fisheries, Fisheries Administration and WCS have found those nests with 444 eggs on sandbars along the Mekong River in Kratie province between November and January," said Leak Ratna, WCS-Cambodia communications manager.

He said conservationists will protect the eggs until they hatch.

The turtle nest protection program is implemented by WCS in collaboration with Community Fisheries and Fisheries Administration, with financial support from the European Union, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Turtle Survival Alliance, among others, the statement said.

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