7-Apr-2022: Indian Tent Turtles

Indian tent turtle is listed in Schedule –I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and is thereby provided the highest degree of protection. There are no reports to indicate that the Indian tent turtle is on the verge of extinction due to illegal mining in Narmada River.

The Government has taken several steps to protect wildlife and its habitats including for Indian tent turtle species. Important steps taken in this regard include:

1. Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves have been created in the country covering important habitats to provide better protection to wildlife, including threatened species and their habitat.
2. Financial assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’, for providing better protection to wildlife and improvement of habitat.
3. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for stringent punishment for violation of its provisions. The Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon that is used for committing wildlife offence(s).
4. The local communities are involved in conservation measures through eco-development activities which help the forest departments in protection of wildlife.
5. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) coordinates with State/UTs and other enforcement agencies to gather intelligence about poaching and unlawful trade in wild animals and animal articles.

The Zoological Survey has not conducted any survey in the Narmada River on impact of illegal mining on Indian tent turtle and its effect on river ecosystem.

18-Jul-2020: Mobile app KURMA helps save turtles in India

On May 23, 2020, World Turtle Day, a number of conservation agencies launched a citizen science initiative, a mobile-based application called KURMA, aimed at turtle conservation.

The application, developed by the Indian Turtle Conservation Action Network (ITCAN) in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance-India and Wildlife Conservation Society-India, not only provides users a database to identify a species but also provides the location of the nearest rescue centre for turtles across the country.

The KURMA App is free to download. It serves as a digital database, with a built-in digital field guide covering 29 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises of India, and information on turtle identification, distribution, vernacular names, and threats.

Tortoise and freshwater turtles are among the most trafficked in the country. A report released in 2019 by TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade monitoring organisation, showed that at least 200 tortoises and freshwater turtles fall prey to illicit poaching and smuggling every week, or 11,000 each year, adding up to over 1,11,130 turtles poached or smuggled between September 2009 and September 2019.

One of the major challenges for freshwater turtle conservation in the country is that wildlife crime prevention agencies are not sufficiently equipped to know how to distinguish one species from the other, or their protection status in accordance with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and the Wildlife Protection Act.

Suppose turtles are recovered at Kolkata Airport, then KURMA will help you reach five places in Kolkata that one can approach for help. Different rescue centres are also registered on the app, and also a number of experts who can provide more information on the species.

Within only a few weeks, 90 assistance facilities have been registered on the app. If anyone reports a turtle from any part of the country using KURMA, he or she receives advice about the species and its conservation. The organisations that have developed the app said it was generating a good response.

The organisations behind developing the application said that it was generating a good response and encouraging people to report turtles in their surroundings. During the Indian monsoon, from July 1 to July 7, an online competition was held to encourage citizens to report turtles from their localities. As more reports come in, KURMA will start identifying species automatically through artificial intelligence.

8-May-2020: Sal forest tortoise habitat stretches over unprotected areas

Sal forest tortoise, also known as the elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) is widely distributed over eastern and northern India and Southeast Asia.

Sal forest tortoise is heavily hunted for food. It is collected both for local use, such as decorative masks, and international wildlife trade. Around 29% of the predicted distribution of the species falls within high occurrence fire zones or areas where there is management burning. Sal forest tortoise in northeast India is exposed to the risk of jhum fire. Apart from the direct fatalities due to the forest fires, the fires also open up habitats, which increase the chance of people finding the tortoise easily. Forest fires also decrease soil moisture levels which may disturb forest floor ecosystem affecting the predominantly ground based animals.

Sal forest tortoise has been recently assessed as critically endangered. According to the IUCN, the population of the species may have fallen by about 80% in the last three generations (90 years). Once widely distributed the Sal tortoise is now no longer common over its habitat.

23 of the 29 species of freshwater turtle and tortoise species found in India come under the threatened category in the IUCN red list and are under severe existential threat due to human activities.

The study by Wildlife Institute of India found that the areas designated as protected areas have only a small overlap with the actual habitat of the Sal forest tortoise. Over 90% of the potential distribution of the Sal forest tortoise falls outside the current protected area network. In northeast India, the representation of the species in protected areas is least. There is little to no connectivity among most of the protected areas where the species is present. Protected areas are designated in a largely mammal-centric way. Many reptiles and amphibians which are equally threatened live outside protected areas where exploitation risk is more.

Given the fact that tortoises are equally threatened as the tigers, there is the need for regular monitoring of the species. Given the scarce information available on Sal forest tortoise, enhanced monitoring will help increase the understanding of the species and aid conservation efforts.

In summer Sal forest tortoises select moist patches such as dry stream beds. Such areas should be protected from the spread of forest fire.

Given that the species is found even in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, transboundary collaboration may aid the conservation efforts.

Transboundary conservation reserves for tigers:

• Manas for the Indo-Bhutan region
• Sundarban for the India-Bangladesh region.

The critically endangered brackish water turtle (Batagur baska) is distributed in India and Bangladesh.

20-Feb-2020: Indian Tent Turtle

The species is native to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with three subspecies recorded from the region viz., P. t. tentoria, P. t. circumdata and P. t. flaviventer. P. t. tentoria occurs in peninsular India and is recorded from Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh. P. t. circumdata occurs in the western tributaries of Ganga and the rivers of Gujarat. It is found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. P. t. flaviventer occurs in the northern tributaries of Ganga and is recorded from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

The size of the carapace ranges from 20 cm to 26.5 cm depending upon the subspecies. The colour of the turtles also varies according to each subspecies. Subspecies tentoria has an olive or brownish head with a red postocular spot, the carapace is brown in colour with amber or hazel stripe in the first three vertebras and the plastron is yellow with black blotches. The head of subspecies circumdata is olive green with pink postocular spot; the carapace is brownish olive green in colour and with pink pleuro-marginal ring and the plastron is yellow with dark and large blotches. Subspecies flaviventer has a brownish olive colour head with pink patch behind the eyes, the carapace is brownish olive and the first three vertebras have a light-colored stripe and the plastron is yellow and unpatterned. The males are smaller than the females in size and have longer and thicker tails. The tentoria subspecies have a moderately small and pointed head that is shorter than the orbit. Their carapace is oval and elevated with a distinct vertebral keel that is spiked and the plastron is truncated anteriorly and notched posteriorly.

Its habitats include still water pools on river side and slow running water near the river banks. These are active swimmers and are mainly herbivorous.

Major Threats: Due to the attractive appearance of the species, they are illegally traded in the pet market.

It is listed in schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Possession of this species of turtles is strictly prohibited as it is a scheduled species as per the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

3-Jan-2020: Rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles

A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles will be inaugurated in Bihar’s Bhagalpur forest division in January 2020. The rehab centre, spread over half a hectare, will be able to shelter 500 turtles at a time.

Forest department officials said the need to build such a centre was felt after several turtles were found severely wounded and sick when rescued from smuggles by rescue teams. This centre will play a significant role in treating these animals and their proper upkeep before being returned to their natural habitat.

Previously, rescued turtles used to be released into rivers without much treatment in the absence of any facility like the centre. But now, they will be properly monitored before being released in their natural habitat.

Eastern Bihar has been an ideal breeding ground for turtles. In Bhagalpur, the flow of water in the Ganga is ample. Also, there are many sandbanks in the middle of the river, which are ideal breeding ground for turtles.

The size of turtles found in eastern Bihar is good as well. A turtle weighing up to 15 kilograms can be found here.

According to environmentalists, the turtles play a significant role in the river by scavenging dead organic materials and diseased fish, controlling fish population as predators and controlling aquatic plants and weeds. They are also described as indicators of healthy aquatic ecosystems.

However, these species are now under severe threats due to habitat fragmentation and loss through dams and barrages, pollution, illegal poaching, accidental drowning through fishing nets and threats to their nesting habitats.

The turtles have come under serious threat primarily for two reasons — food and the flourishing pet trade. Turtles are being frequently targeted for meat due to the prevailing belief that it gives an energy boost and keeps various diseases away. Usually, soft-shell turtles are victims of this belief. On the other hand, hard-shell turtles, especially spotted ones, are being poached for the pet trade. Such turtles are in high demand in south east Asia, China and Japan.

According to a recent study conducted by Traffic India, around 11,000 turtles are being smuggled in India every year. In the past 10 years, as many as 110,000 turtles have been traded.

4-Oct-2017: Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad

In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

The project at an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore would include development of River Biodiversity Park at Sangam (confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati), establishment of a Turtle Rearing Centre (Permanent nursery at Triveni Pushp and makeshift annual hatcheries) and awareness about the importance of river Ganga and imperativeness of its conservation has been approved.

This project will provide much needed platform to make the visitors aware of their place in the ecosystem, their roles and responsibilities, improve their understanding of the complexity of co-existence with the environment and help generate awareness for reducing the impact of human activities on critical natural resources. The task of dissipating knowledge about river Ganga will be taken up ardently in this project, which is 100% centrally funded.

The sustenance of more than 2000 aquatic species including threatened gharials, dolphins and turtles in river Ganga exemplifies the rich biodiversity of this lifeline to over 40 per cent of the country’s population. Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like turtles (Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.), the National Aquatic Animal - Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and numerous migratory and resident birds.

16-May-2017: Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to rehabilitate Indian star tortoises

An ambitious project of the Kerala Forest Department at the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to rehabilitate Indian star tortoises (Geochelone elegans) seized from smugglers has turned into a major success. This makes the CWS the only rehabilitation centre for star tortoises in the country.

The CWS is the only place in Kerala where star tortoises are known to occur in the wild. The sanctuary is now a haven for at least 450 such tortoises seized from poachers in less than two years. Indian star tortoises are considered auspicious for gaining wealth. It is the reason why Indian star tortoises, which are protected under the Wildlife Act, are poached and smuggled. It is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

26-Feb-2017: Turtle trade is still rampant in India

Despite strict enforcement, ease of transport leads thousands, including endangered species, to be smuggled abroad. As the smuggling networks strengthen, India continues to bear the ignominy of being the source of the illegal trade and export of tortoises and freshwater turtles (TFT).

The study finds that 14 species were being commercially harvested. Most of the seizures were in India, while the rest were from Bangladesh, Thailand and China. Of the amphibians seized, the turtles were established as having come from India.

Within India, the Gangetic Plains accounted for 46% of all seizures, with Lucknow and Kanpur being major hubs. Researchers said this was linked to tightening of the enforcement (including an active Special Task Force) in Uttar Pradesh and the Gangetic belt. There is a tradition of turtle poaching in this area given the diversity of TFT population along the river.

Apart from the Ganga and its tributaries, TFTs have been poached in rivers of the Western Ghats and, in smaller numbers, in the Eastern Ghats. The cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata have seen large-scale seizures, suggesting accumulation before export, the researchers said.

While domestic consumption of turtle meat in West Bengal and Bangladesh continues, it is the international export to south-east Asian countries and China that rake in profits for smugglers.

The species are poached by fishermen in streams, ponds and rivers. Very rarely are the traded species bred — they are mostly taken from the wild. It reaches middlemen who have strong networks to smuggle them across international borders. Turtles and tortoises are taken in trucks, buses and trains towards Bangladesh or through airports to south-east Asia.

While enforcement has become stricter, the ease of transporting thousands of turtle hatchlings in bags has led the trade to continue unhindered. Earlier this year, 6,430 endangered turtles were found stuffed in large bags at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

In the meat markets in Bangladesh, there is indiscriminate poaching now as long as the turtles caught can be consumed. In the pet trade of SE Asia and China, there is an increasing diversity of species that is being sold from India. Before, it was primarily Star Tortoises. But now, the numbers of species such as Spotted Pond Turtle are on the rise.

Turtles form an important part of the riverine system, acting as scavengers in cleaning up water bodies and generally being indicators of river health.

Ironically, the National Mission for Clean Ganga envisages breeding and release of turtles to clean wetlands, even as poaching and trade continues across the Gangetic belt.