Turtle Survival

RANGE COUNTRY UPDATE
INDIA
throughout the country, TSA India continued
further advocacy over the past year by influencing
government policies, facilitating turtle
repatriation, setting up key facilities, and building
new community partnerships – all notable
achievements that will continue going forward.
Here is a summary of those accomplishments.
A long term turtle assemblage study has been initiated to collect baseline demographic data to improve conservation
management practices in Tarai, one of five Turtle Priority Areas. PHOTO CREDIT: BHASKER DIXIT
TSA India: Another
Successful Year
for Indian Turtle
Conservation
Shailendra Singh, PhD, Lonnie McCaskill, and Daren R Riedle, PhD
India is renowned as the land of the tiger and
the elephant; many Indian gods are depicted
riding peacocks or tigers. But sadly, the revered
relationship that existed between people and
wildlife centuries ago has largely vanished, and
the protected areas, which comprise just 4% of
India’s landscape, are now mere islands amidst a
sea of people. Protecting and recovering India’s
wildlife presents a monumental task.
With 28 species of tortoises and freshwater
turtles, India has one of the most diverse chelonian
faunas in the world and ranks among the top
five Asian countries in regards to the importance
of its turtle conservation efforts. Over 40% of
Indian turtles are listed as either Endangered or
Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. A
rapidly expanding human population, coupled
with increasing exploitation of the area’s watersheds,
poses a significant threat to all riverine
species, including turtles.
Despite numerous challenges, TSA India is
steadily becoming a prominent turtle conservation
force throughout the region. In addition to
maintaining key species conservation projects
THE KUKRAIL GHARIAL AND TURTLE
REHABILITATION CENTER
Located in Lucknow, Northern India, the
Kukrail Center was established in 1978 by the
Uttar Pradesh Forest Department (UPFD) to help
recover wild populations of the Gharial (Gavialis
gangeticus). In fruition of the Ganga Action Plan
in the 1980’s, freshwater turtle species were
added to the Center’s collection. TSA India later
developed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the UPFD to strengthen ongoing
programs, and with the long-term objective of
developing a broad based, living collection of
threatened Indian chelonians.
Three hundred and ninety turtles of 12 North
Indian species currently reside at the Kukrail
Center. Four species of turtles, including the
Crowned River Turtle (Hardella thurjii) and
Peacock Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia hurum),
were recently added to the collection for captive
conservation and research.
To mark the beginning of a captive breeding
project at the center, one hundred and sixty one
turtles of two different species were headstarted
this year and released in Hakimpur Lake near
the Narora Atomic Power Station.
NEW ARRIVALS PROMPT CONSTRUCTION
Twenty sub-adult Red-crowned Roofed
Turtles (Batagur kachuga) were relocated to
the Kukrail Center from TSA’s Garhaita Turtle
Conservation Center on the Chambal River. The
turtles were raised at Garhaita in an effort to create
assurance colonies of the species.
Their arrival prompted refurbishment to
supporting structures that had become dated,
including: the conversion of an old building into
a functional Laboratory for Aquatic Biology
(L.A.B.); the building of an isolation enclosure
for rescued turtles, along with a series of pens
to hold animals during education events; the
construction of a modest tortoise enclosure; and,
finally, the creation of a larger enclosure built especially
for big river turtles and featuring a series
of seven deep pools.
We’ve continued our very popular Kukrail
Guided Nature Tour (KGNT), which educated
over 1,800 children about turtles and crocodiles
a publication of the turtle survival alliance 21 visit us online at www.turtlesurvival.org