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Endangered turtle bred in UK
Image: Bristol Zoo
The Vietnamese box turtle successfully bred

Bristol Zoo have become the first in the UK to successfully breed the critically endangered Vietnamese box turtle.

The zoo is part of a European breeding programme and, until now, the only other place in Europe to have bred the turtle, which happens to be one of the rarest in the world, is another zoo in Germany.

The baby, called Vernon, was born in July and is about 5cm (2in) long now. He lives in a boggy tank which replicates his natural habitat, and is hoped to grow to around 1kg (2.2lb) and live for up to 50 years.

Staff at the zoo have said the species was very difficult to breed.

"Not a lot is known about this species so we can learn an awful lot from this baby to improve our chances of breeding more in future," said Tim Skelton, Reptile curator at the zoo.

He added this was a 40-year career highlight for him.

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Germany livestock import ban lifted

The UK government has amended its ban on the import of livestock, meat and dairy products from Germany.

Defra said the decision follows 'rigorous technical assessment' of the measures applied and the current situation. "If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity," it said.

The ban was implemented in January following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) near Berlin. Personal imports of meat, milk and dairy products will remain in place at a country level.