Mo Ganji: Arakan Forest Turtle | Arakan-Waldschildkröte | Heosemys depressa | No. 013/250 from work group 8/99

Arakan Forest Turtle | Arakan-Waldschildkröte | Heosemys depressa

In a single, continuous line, Mo Ganji sketches the Arakan forest turtle — a secretive species of the hill forests of western Myanmar. The drawing presents only a conceptual outline, consistent with Ganji’s approach: each line is one possible interpretation of a being, not a definitive portrait. Reduced to essential form, the turtle’s presence becomes a quiet indicator of a species that has long remained unseen by most observers.

Heosemys depressa is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Once known from only a few specimens, the species was even thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1994. Today it survives in very small, fragmented populations in the Arakan (Rakhine) Mountains. Major threats include intensive hunting for local consumption and the international wildlife trade, as well as habitat loss through agricultural expansion and forest degradation.

Because the species is slow to reproduce and occupies restricted habitat, even modest levels of collection can severely impact numbers. Surveys indicate that encounters in the wild remain extremely rare, and the overall population is believed to be declining.

Ganji’s minimal line is not meant to resolve these complexities; it simply notes the existence of a species that persists at the margins. The quiet form becomes a reminder that many organisms remain vulnerable precisely because they are out of sight — and that protection often begins with acknowledging their presence.