Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Southern Vietnamese box turtle (Cuora picturata), recorded as Critically Endangered
Southern Vietnamese box turtle (Cuora picturata). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Southern Vietnamese box turtle

Cuora picturata

Southern Vietnamese box turtle is a turtle in the family Geoemydidae — Cuora picturata, recorded as Critically Endangered.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Cuora picturata
CITES
Appendix I
Taxonomy
Testudines · Geoemydidae · Cuora

The turtle

Southern Vietnamese box turtle is a turtle in the family Geoemydidae — Cuora picturata.

Range and habitat

The southern Vietnamese box turtle is endemic to the southern mountainous regions of Vietnam, and possibly also occurring in extreme eastern Cambodia and southern Laos. It is known only from Khanh Hoa and southern Phu Yen provinces, but may also occur in eastern Dak Lak and northern Ninh Thuan provinces.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

While the head coloration of Cuora galbinifrons subspecies is highly variable even in different populations, this is not the case with C. Picturata, whose head is always yellow with a fine, greyish reticulation.

CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.

Southern Vietnamese box turtle is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Southern Vietnamese box turtle, Wikidata item Q2157282. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Bourret's box turtle (Cuora bourreti), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Bourret's box turtle

Cuora bourreti
Photograph of Golden coin turtle (Cuora trifasciata), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Golden coin turtle

Cuora trifasciata
Photograph of Indochinese box turtle (Cuora galbinifrons), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Indochinese box turtle

Cuora galbinifrons
Photograph of McCord's box turtle (Cuora mccordi), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

McCord's box turtle

Cuora mccordi

Quick answers

What is Southern Vietnamese box turtle?
The southern Vietnamese box turtle is endemic to the southern mountainous regions of Vietnam, and possibly also occurring in extreme eastern Cambodia and southern Laos.
What is the conservation status of Southern Vietnamese box turtle?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Cuora picturata. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Southern Vietnamese box turtle live?
The southern Vietnamese box turtle is endemic to the southern mountainous regions of Vietnam, and possibly also occurring in extreme eastern Cambodia and southern Laos.
Why is Southern Vietnamese box turtle in crisis?
While the head coloration of Cuora galbinifrons subspecies is highly variable even in different populations, this is not the case with C. Picturata, whose head is always yellow with a fine, greyish reticulation.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Cuora picturata?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Southern Vietnamese box turtle a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.