Captive-bred rare species of turtles to be released in Sunderbans

After successfully hatching critically endangered Batagur turtles in captivity,officials at the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR) would release a batch of the hatchlings in the Sunderbans mid-2014.

As part of its conservation programme,the STR hatched 33 Batagur turtles at the Sajnekhali Mangroves Interpretation Centre in the Sunderbans last year. We hatched another 56 this year. We will release 15-20 turtles from the first batch next year and see whether they are able find a suitable habitat to exist, STR field director Soumitra Dasgupta said.

The Batagur turtles,found in Sunderbans,Bangladesh and parts of Myanmar,have been declared critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN),the oldest and largest global environmental organization of the world.

Human activity and global warming are considered to be the main reasons behind their way to extinction.

Dasgupta said STR officials would begin a survey early next year in the entire Indian part of Sunderbans to find out the right habitat where these turtles can survive. This location hunting is going to be a tough job. It will take some time. Depending on the success of the first batch,we will decide when to releas the next batch, said Dasgupta.

According to forest officials,the Batagur turtles in India have undergone a sharp decline in last few decades due to human consumption.

Whenever we talk about Sunderbans,we talk of Royal Bengal Tigers only. But apart from tigers,there are many species and animals which are endangered. This step will definitely help in bringing up the number of Batagur turtles in the region, ZSI director K Venkatraman said.

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