Far more endangered turtles to be released with GPS tags in Bengal’s Sundarbans
The West Bengal forest office is preparing to release a further batch of batagur baska, a critically endangered freshwater turtle species, tagged with GPS transmitters in Sundarbans this yr to have an understanding of its survival and dispersal patterns, an formal stated on Friday.
10 batagur baskas – 7 females and a few males- were equipped with GPS system and produced in a river in Sundarbans mangrove forest on January 19 after remaining reared in a pond in Sajnekhali spot in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal Main Wildlife Warden Debal Roy instructed PTI.
“The 10 critically endangered turtles were being reared in excess of 9 several years. We aim at releasing the second batch of 20 subadult batagur baskas this yr,” he stated.
Batagur baska, also known as northern river terrapin, is greatly regarded as one of the most endangered freshwater turtles in the planet, Roy explained.
“Only a handful of the turtle species may be surviving in the wild across the large expanse of mangrove swamps and tidal rivers of Sundarbans spanning southeast India and southwest Bangladesh,” he defined.
The baska populace “declined sharply due to unsustainable harvesting”, the official stated, introducing that the species now teeters on the brink of purposeful extinction.
A joint exploration by a team of Turtle Survival Alliance India Programme and Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 2008 identified a cohort of 8 males, 3 ladies, and one particular juvenile batagur baska in a pond in Sajnekhali, Roy said.
“In the Sajnekhali pond, we had commenced with 12 turtles and now the selection has long gone up to 370. We aim at reaching 1,000 in captivity by subsequent year. The GPS tagging will permit true-time monitoring of the turtles and support get information and facts about their replica and the way they adapt to the setting,” he mentioned.
This will also assistance “comprehend survival and dispersal designs of the freshwater turtles” and system huge scale release programmes in the long run, the forest formal mentioned.
The exercise will offer essential ecological data on the conservation prerequisites for them, he included.
The West Bengal forest office is preparing to release a further batch of batagur baska, a critically endangered freshwater turtle species, tagged with GPS transmitters in Sundarbans this yr to have an understanding of its survival and dispersal patterns, an formal stated on Friday.
10 batagur baskas – 7 females and a few males- were equipped with GPS system and produced in a river in Sundarbans mangrove forest on January 19 after remaining reared in a pond in Sajnekhali spot in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal Main Wildlife Warden Debal Roy instructed PTI.
“The 10 critically endangered turtles were being reared in excess of 9 several years. We aim at releasing the second batch of 20 subadult batagur baskas this yr,” he stated.
Batagur baska, also known as northern river terrapin, is greatly regarded as one of the most endangered freshwater turtles in the planet, Roy explained.
“Only a handful of the turtle species may be surviving in the wild across the large expanse of mangrove swamps and tidal rivers of Sundarbans spanning southeast India and southwest Bangladesh,” he defined.
The baska populace “declined sharply due to unsustainable harvesting”, the official stated, introducing that the species now teeters on the brink of purposeful extinction.
A joint exploration by a team of Turtle Survival Alliance India Programme and Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 2008 identified a cohort of 8 males, 3 ladies, and one particular juvenile batagur baska in a pond in Sajnekhali, Roy said.
“In the Sajnekhali pond, we had commenced with 12 turtles and now the selection has long gone up to 370. We aim at reaching 1,000 in captivity by subsequent year. The GPS tagging will permit true-time monitoring of the turtles and support get information and facts about their replica and the way they adapt to the setting,” he mentioned.
This will also assistance “comprehend survival and dispersal designs of the freshwater turtles” and system huge scale release programmes in the long run, the forest formal mentioned.
The exercise will offer essential ecological data on the conservation prerequisites for them, he included.
