Amdya Cartilaginea

Amdya Cartilaginea is kind of the Indonesian’s native animal. It’s belongs to the reptile classes in kingdom of animalia and it belongs to the turtle species which is called fresh water soft shell turtle. This is one of Indonesian rare turtle and IUCN of United Nation Amdya Cartilaginea is mentions in index two or it categorizes it as endangered animal. People usually looking for its meat and fat because in Javanese traditional society, they believe that the fat and meat of Amdya Cartilaginea or they usually call as ”bulus“ have many functions too keep their body healthy. Not only Javanese society, another community such as Chinese people also hunt this turtle for their meat and fat. In Chinese ancient believe, Amdya Cartilaginea’s soup can make them have a long life and make them have special power in magic. It also can contribute in our sexual behaviors because some people believe if they consume it’s meat and fat they can doing a “sexual activities” for long time.

We can find this turtle in some places but actually we can only find the species of Amdya cartilaginea in some islands in Indonesia. Its habitat is in the river, swamp and rain forest which is have high intensity of rain. We can find this animal in Java Island, Borneo, Sulawesi Island, Sumatra Island and Papua. This turtle usually get its reproduction’s session and lays its egg on June until September when dry season come. Even Amdya Cartilaginea is a fresh water turtle. It always comes to a land when it wants to lay its egg. This behavior is almost similar to every turtle such as salt water turtle which is come to the seashore when they want to lay their egg and bury it in the sand. After twenty one days or at least three weeks, the egg will be hatching and the pupils will dig out through the sand and find the nearest river or swamp.

Amdya Crtilaginea also have unique shape and morphology. When it’s a pupil it is a hyper active turtle with strong beak and long neck. They have nose like an elephant trunk but it becomes peak in the end of its nose. It also has dark shell. All of the pupils have soft, flat, and almost ellipse shell. It shell’s color is gray with many brown spots in all around the shell. We usually can’t realize the pupils of Amdya Cartilaginea’s pupils because their gray shell is almost same with the sand around their habitats. Their morphology will change after they get older/ more mature, they will be less in activities and only wait for their meal such as fish and prawn after adults. They also have different color and shape in their shell. When they get older, their shell will change into round shape and they can’t put their feet in to their shell anymore. Their shell’s color also change, they have glossy black with yellow or white spots. Actually they can grow until sixty centimeters in wildlife and around a meter in conservations place. Amdya Cartilaginea is a long life turtle as almost turtle in the world which can live until one hundred and twenty years in wildlife and one hundred and thirty six years in conservations place.

After we know about Amdya Cartilaginea, we should protect them and keep them carefully. If we are not keeping and protect them maybe we can see or at least see its picture anymore because they will be extinct. So protect our nature, protect our animals and forest for me, for you and for our future.

By Ragil Adhi

HI2/ Term3/2011