This Wildlife Conservation Society handout photo shows the Arakan forest turtles discovered recently in a wildlife sanctuary in Myanmar, which was believed extinct until 1994. (AFP)

BANGKOK (AFP) – Scientists working in a remote Myanmar forest discovered one of the world's rarest turtle species in the wild for the first time, a conservation group said Monday.

The "critically endangered" Arakan forest turtles were thought to be extinct until 1994, when conservationists found a few specimens in captivity in a Chinese food market, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Five of the animals, which measure less than a foot in length, have now been found by a team from the society which was working in a sanctuary in military-ruled Myanmar, it said.

"We are delighted and astonished that this extremely rare species is alive and well in Myanmar," said Colin Poole, WCS director of Asian programs.

"Now we must do what we can to protect the remaining population."

He said Asian turtles – highly sought after as food – were being "wiped out" by poachers for the illegal
wildlife trade.

Before 1994 the last known record of the Arakan forest turtle was of a single animal collected by a British army officer in 1908, it said.

The scientists found the latest examples in a Myanmar sanctuary that "contains thick stands of impenetrable bamboo forests and is rarely visited by people", the statement said.

They also came across rare yellow tortoises and Asian leaf turtles - two other threatened species.

The Arakan forest turtles, which have light brown shells with black mottling, are locally known as "Pyant Cheezar" which means "turtle that eats rhinoceros feces."

The society noted however that the name is a "tad timeworn" since the Sumatran rhinos that once lived in the area disappeared 50 years ago, due to overhunting.

It recommended several steps to ensure the turtles remain protected in the sanctuary, such as the establishment of permanent guard posts on roads leading in and out of the park to thwart poachers.