ENDANGERED INDIAN TURTLES

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Home> Lucknow> Page 1 Friday , October 21, 2005

 

8 more Indian turtles in endangered list

 

Piyush Srivastava

 

Lucknow, October 20: Shocked by the fast extinction of many Indian species of

turtles, global experts have decided to include 11 of the 27 Indian species in

the critically endangered list of the International Union for the Conservation

of Nature (IUCN).

 

Four of these 11 species will also be listed under Schedule 1 of India’s

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This Act imposes a mandatory prison term of one

year on anyone found in possession of the listed species.

 

 

 

Earlier, only three Indian turtle species — Kachuga kachuga, Aspideretes leithii

and Chitra indica — were in the IUCN’s endangered list while only Kachuga

kachuga was listed under the national Wildlife Protection Act.

 

According to Dr Harry Andrews, director of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, the

eight Indian species which have been added to the IUCN’s list are Hardella

thurjii, Kachuga dhongoka, Kachuga smithi, Kachuga sylhetensis, Morenia petersi,

Pyxidea mouhotii, Manouria emys and Pelochelys cantorii.

 

Among these, Kachuga sylhetensis, Manouria emys and Aspideretes leithii have

been listed under the national Wildlife Protection Act too.

 

This decision was taken on the concluding day of the four-day meet between the

representatives of IUCN, Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), Conservation

International, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) and senior wildlife officials

of the forest department.

 

Dr Peter Paul Van Djik of the IUCN, Rick Hudson of TSA, Dr Harry Andrews of

MCBT, UP’s chief wildlife warden of UP Mohammad Ehsan were among those who

participated in the discussions.

 

Expressing concern over the wild harvesting of Indian turtles, Dr Djik said:

‘‘We are already trying to create awareness in China and the Middle East but

have met with only partial success. Fifteen per cent of the turtles in the

Chinese market are smuggled from the Indian sub-continent.’’

 

While turtles from western India are reportedly smuggled to the Middle East by

the sea route, those from South India are transported by air to Singapore. In

central and northern India, turtles are transported to Kolkata, from where they

are sent by air to Singapore and Hong Kong.