A free field guide to the turtles, terrapins and crocodilians of Borneo — 18 species, each with photographs, scientific names, Malay and Indonesian names, and notes on habitat and where they are found. Nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for.
What this group covers
This is the smallest section of the guide and the one where individual species matter most, because almost every animal in it is in trouble. Three crocodilians: the saltwater crocodile, which is common along the lower Kinabatangan and every estuary in Sabah; the false gharial, a narrow-snouted freshwater specialist of peat swamp and blackwater river; and the Bornean swamp crocodile.
The other twelve are freshwater and terrestrial turtles and tortoises — painted terrapin, Malaysian giant turtle, the softshells, the leaf turtles and the Asian giant tortoise. Several are critically endangered, driven there by the food and pet trade rather than by habitat loss alone. This section does not cover the marine turtles that nest on Sabah's offshore islands; those sit outside the freshwater and terrestrial list here.
Finding them
Crocodiles are straightforward: a river cruise on the Kinabatangan at dusk, eyes on the bank and on the eyeshine. The turtles are much harder and mostly encountered by chance — a leaf turtle crossing a trail after rain, a softshell surfacing in a slow river. Anyone hoping to see the rarer terrapins is realistically looking at a conservation project rather than a wild encounter.
Using this instead of a book
Freshwater turtle coverage in the general Borneo field guides is thin, and the dedicated literature is specialist and expensive. This is free and photographic. There is an honest comparison of the two on the field guide page. See also snakes and lizards.
All 18 species
Each card has two colour-coded toggles:
turns lime green — adds it to your trip planner
turns blue — marks it as seen in my sightings
