(IN): Prize catch becomes easy prey

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Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070630/asp/northeast/story_7989807.asp

 

Prize catch becomes easy prey

 

OUR CORRESPONDENT

 

Cachar

 

*June 29: *The International Union for Conservation of Nature has put them

on the Red List of endangered species and environmentalists never tire of

telling people how precious they are. But to fishermen in these parts, a

turtle or a tortoise is just another piece of meat.

 

As in every monsoon, fishermen are targeting the tortoises and turtles that

come out of the swelling rivers and wetlands to lay eggs on the banks.

Trapped tortoises and turtles are brought to markets in Silchar, Sonai,

Dholai, Kathigorah and Lalkhipur, to be killed and sold to customers who

regard their meat as no less a prized monsoon delicacy than the silvery

hilsa.

 

Even the price matches that of the hilsa. A kg of turtle meat sells for

around Rs 300 in Fatak Bazar and Rongpur, the two main markets of Silchar.

 

Environmentalists, as usual, cannot do much except bemoan the sharp decline

in the population of these creatures.

 

Turtles and tortoises are often confused with one another because both

species have dome-shaped shells that protect their tender bodies.

 

Sources in the forest department in Silchar confirmed that during the

monsoon, tortoise and turtle meat is openly sold near the banks of the Barak

river and its tributaries — the Madhura, Jiri, Chiri, Rukni and the Sanai.

Raids by police* *and forest officials bring trade to a halt for some days,

but it is business as usual once the vigil is lifted.

 

Forest personnel rescued a giant tortoise from a market at Rongpur last year

after they received a complaint from villagers. It was then released in the

Barak.

 

The South Assam Conservation Society, an NGO, has long been engaged in the

task of raising awareness about the endangered state of turtles and

tortoises. Aveek Gupta of the ecology department of Assam University has now

taken the lead in convincing people people not to buy meat of turtles and

tortoises.

 

" The very rivers and wetlands that once used to be the repositories of

turtles have now become veritable death traps for them, " Gupta said.

 

Turtles have almost stopped migrating from the rivers of neighbouring

Bangladesh, which is one of the reasons for the decline in the population of

these gentle shelled creatures.