Hyderabad: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad division, on Sunday, February 23, apprehended a man for smuggling turtles in Odisha. The DRI seized 1448 Indian Flap Shell Turtles at Godipada Toll Plaza, Khurda, along with the vehicle used in carrying the turtles.
The Indian Flap Shell Turtles, classified as a Schedule I species, are afforded stringent protection under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, of 1972. Further investigations are underway.
Indian flapshell turtle is a freshwater species of turtles which is found in many states in India, and across the Indian subcontinent. Turtles are smuggled and killed for their supposed aphrodisiac properties, livestock feed, to make leather from their skins, to make potions from their blood and to use as fishing bait.
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Odisha riverbank witnesses mass nesting of olive ridley turtles
The mouth of the Rushikulya River in Odisha’s Ganjam district has emerged as a major rookery for the endangered olive ridley turtles with over 6.82 lakh such marine species assembling for mass nesting, officials said on Sunday.
The mass nesting of the turtles in the Rushikulya River mouth commenced on February 16.
“Over 6.82 lakh olive ridley turtles have laid eggs on the beach so far, surpassing the previous record of the arrival of 6.37 lakh marine species in 2023,” Berhampur divisional forest officer (DFO) Sunny Khokkar said.
A total of 6,37,008 turtles had laid eggs in eight days of mass nesting from February 23 to March 2, in 2023, while 5.50 lakh turtles laid eggs in 2022, sources said.
As the mass nesting of olive ridley is yet to be completed, the number might increase, the DFO said.
Favourable climatic conditions are one of the reasons for a record number of olive ridley turtles visiting the beach for mass nesting, experts said.
“The better climatic condition this year has helped more turtles lay eggs in the Rushikulya river mouth, which is emerging as a major rookery for the turtles,” Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun senior scientist Bivas Pandav said.
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) senior scientist Basudev Tripathy predicts a good number of hatchlings likely to emerge as the mass nesting has taken place in time in the rookery. ZSI scientists have recaptured over 330 olive ridleys so far as these turtles were GPS –tagged in the 2021-23 period, said Anil Mohapatra, another senior scientist of the surveyor.
