Revision as of 05:57, 26 September 2021

HABITATS, SANCTUARIES

Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary, Varanasi

2019: closure or relocation

Neha Shukla, Nov 13, 2019: The Times of India

Three decades after it was declared India’s first and so far only protected area dedicated to the conservation of freshwater turtle species, Varanasi’s Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary is being denotified by the UP government in preparation for a possible “relocation” to the Allahabad-Mirzapur stretch of the Ganga.

The prod to denotify the sanctuary first came two years ago, when the Union ministry of environment and forests wrote to the state government that the ghats were under threat. Amid opposition to the move from conservationists, it emerged that the Centre’s 1,620km national waterways project was to pass through the turtle habitat.

Sources said the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had conducted a feasibility study and found the Allahabad-Mirzapur stretch of the river suitable for the relocation of the sanctuary. The proposal was “reviewed and approved in principle” during a recent meeting of the state wildlife board, chaired by CM Yogi Adityanath.

The sanctuary, spanning the 7km stretch from Ramnagar Fort to the Malviya railroad bridge, was notified as the country’s first freshwater turtle sanctuary under the Ganga Action Plan in 1989. The idea of a sanctuary was married to the concept of releasing four carnivorous species of turtles for organic cleaning of the Ganga.

Since Kathawa (Aspederites gangeticus), Sundari Kachua (Lissemys punctata), Dhond (Kachuga dhongoka) and Pacheda (Pangshuratecta) are carnivorous turtles, it was expected that they would feed on half-burnt corpses floating in the waters of the Ganga.

Turtle eggs were secured from the Chambal river, hatched at the Sarnath breeding centre and released in the river. The state government subsequently banned sand mining in the area to save the nesting turtles, leading to sand accumulation and increased sedimentation that seemed to create a new set of challenges. Flagging this as a threat to the ghats, the environment ministry wrote to the state government in 2017 seeking a remedy.

Since a wildlife sanctuary can only be denotified, Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary will have to be reborn as a new habitat as and when it is shifted.

The sanctuary is being denotified by the UP govt for relocation after the Centre said the ghats in Varanasi were under threat

Species

Cantor’s giant softshell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii’')

Sep 18, 2021: The Times of India

‘Cantor’s giant softshell turtles once lived with dinosaurs — they face extinction now’ Ayushi Jain is a conservation ecologist and a National Geographic Photo Ark EDGE Fellow. Sharing her insights with Times Evoke Inspire, Ayushi discusses her efforts to save a remarkable turtle species: My work focuses on protecting the Cantor’s giant softshell turtle or Pelochelys cantorii, a species over 140 million years old. This turtle actually predates human beings — its origins are traced to when dinosaurs roamed on Earth. But today, with habitat destruction, hunting and harmful fishing, this giant turtle — an evolutionary marvel — faces extinction. As a conservation ecologist, I’m working in collaboration with the Geographical Society of London and National Geographic to save the species.

My work is located amidst the riverbanks of Kasaragod, Kerala.

Kasaragod is in northern Kerala. I work around the Chandragiri river there. This is surrounded by fields, with little forested area left.

In some places, the Cantor’s giant softshell turtle is consumed. I had to gain trust in the local community if I wanted that to change. Today, people call me when they see a turtle being sold for meat.

We’ve also convinced many villagers about the turtle being necessary for their wellbeing. The Cantor’s turtle balances the aquatic ecosystem — without it, fish populations would increase, causing an oxygen deficit in the river. This would cause fish to perish and the river to get polluted.

So far, I’ve seen the turtle just thrice in the wild. This species is very shy. Most freshwater turtles like to bask — they come out on the sanded surface of rivers and sit in the warmth, their body temperature changing with the ambient temperature. But this turtle hides and it can also be aggressive.

I help fishermen release turtles caught accidentally as bycatch — but while we’re taking the hook harming the turtle off, it can take a finger off you. Softshell turtles can retract their neck inside their shell and whip it out very fast to bite. Cantor’s turtles also grow to over three feet and 100 kilograms.

Yet, they move very fast. Lacking a protective hard shell, they don’t want to be near humans — that’s a wish we should respect.

The Cantor is a rare freshwater turtle which also travels to the seaside. But if you build a dam in-between, the turtle can’t move which inhibits its life cycle. Another major challenge is sand mining — in Kasaragod, illegal miners extract sand from the river, carrying this away in boats at night. There are very few sandbanks left. But turtles need these to lay eggs. Such mining is damaging turtle populations, which also face dams flooding nesting sites.

The day the six turtles hatched was unforgettable. After all the waiting and hoping that the flood hadn’t harmed them, I’d almost given up. But nature prevailed and we could release the hatchlings into the wild. As I watched them move into the river, I knew I was looking at the descendants of a truly ancient species, carrying so many of our world’s marvels with them.