Hunted turtles find sanctuary at golf course and primary school .
The private sector is working with a wildlife conservation NGO to safeguard Siem Reap's population of endangered turtles, which are being traded on the black market as food.
Published june 2009. KYLE SHERER, Phnom Penh Post

The Angkor Golf Resort and the Jay Pritzker Academy are working with the Angkor Centre for the Conservation of Biodiversity to provide safe havens for critically endangered turtles that have been confiscated during government raids from markets where the animals were being sold by the kilo to turn into stew.
Turtles are considered a delicacy by Cambodians, and the demand for their meat is high enough to support an illegal trade, pushing many species toward extinction. While police can confiscate turtles from poachers,  the more difficult task is finding a safe area to release them.


AGR Superintendant Jim Gubricky

Putting them back in their habitats just replenishes the population for poachers, so to establish a permanent home for the turtles requires a little imagination.

Jim Gubricky, golf course superintendant at the Angkor Golf Resort, said the resort started fostering turtles about 18 months ago. "The wife of a guy who used to work here saw a bunch of turtles being sold in the market. She bought them all - probably about 50 or 60 - brought them to the course and released them."

Gubricky and Markus Handschuh, animal collection manager at the Angkor Centre for the Conservation of Biodiversity, also decided to work together to release turtles taken in by the wildlife centre.

The Angkor Golf Resort has three wetland areas and a large lake system that is a frustrating area to lose a ball in, but the perfect habitat for a reclusive turtle. Gubricky said the course, which also has several designated "natural areas" with indigenous trees and uncultivated grass, is designed to attract native animals. "It's all about trying to make this course a natural haven - whether it's for turtles, birds or whatever."

Making the course environmentally friendly was an important part of the Angkor Golf Resort design, Gubricky said. As soon as the course was completed, Gubricky joined Audubon International, a nonprofit organisation that works with golf courses to create environmentally friendly areas. In March, Gubricky said that the Angkor Golf Resort earned a certificate for environmental planning from Audubon after conducting bird surveys at the course with the Sam Veasna Centre conservation NGO.