600 turtle hatchlings released in Chambal
KOTA: In successful in situ conservation of two critically endangered species of turtles, 600 hatchlings of red crowned roofed turtle and three striped roofed turtle were recently released into the Chambal river at National Chambal Ghariyal Sanctuary (NCGS) of Rajasthan.
The turtle conservation has been done for the first time in the sanctuary by developing in situ hatcheries at four places along the Chambal river.
Informing about the initiative, Anil Kumar Yadav, the deputy conservator of forest at NCGS, said that nine species of turtles are found in the sanctuary, of which the in-situ conservation was done of red crowned roofed turtle and three striped roofed turtle. “The in situ conservation of these two turtle species was done at four places along the NCGS comprising Gumush Ghat in Mandrayal range in Karauli district and Andwapureni, Shankarghat and Rajghat in Dholpur district,” he said.
Dr Harimohan Meena, a wildlife researcher who gave technical assistance to the wildlife department in the conservation of turtles, said that a wired fencing of the nesting sites at turtle habitats along the bank of Chambal river was done and 3,000 eggs of the two critically endangered species of turtles were collected following the Covid-19 protocols in March this year.
He said the fencing was necessary to save the eggs from predators such as dogs, jackal and monitor lizards. “The eggs were collected with the use of gloves and potassium permanganate solution to avert bacterial infections in eggs,” he said.
The red crowned roofed turtle lays 11 to 30 eggs and the three striped roofed turtle lays 20 to 35 eggs and both have incubation period of nearly 55 to 90 days. “Parental care is absent in these turtle species, as they do not return to their eggs for hatching them after laying them in the nests along the river banks,” he said, adding that the hatchlings comes out of the egg naturally on their own after (how many days?).
Yadav said since the hatching success rate of the eggs of these turtle species is 90% to 95%, more hatchlings are expected to be borne out of the conserved eggs. He said that the turtle conservation in NCGS was done as, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the population of the critically endangered turtles was shrinking.
Meena said, “Damage to the eggs of these turtle species by predators, smuggling of turtles over a myth that consuming turtle flesh increases sexual power and eggs treating pneumonia among kids are key reasons behind the shrinking population.” He said although no census of turtles was done at the NCGS, but there are several indicators to the decline of the turtle population.
Among other turtle species found in the NCGS are Indian narrow-headed soft shell turtle, crowned river turtle, Indian flap shell turtle, soft shell turtle, Indian roofed turtle and Indian tent turtle.