Gentle turtles swim in troubled waters

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061215/asp/northeast/story_7137095.asp

 

Gentle turtles swim in troubled waters

Barak Valley

SANTANU GHOSH

 

Dec. 14: Hunted for their meat, turtles are losing the battle for

survival in the wetlands of the Barak Valley.

 

Ajoy Deori Bharali, the divisional forest officer of Cachar, said

there has been a sharp decline in the population of five species of

turtles. " Visit any urban or rural market in Cachar, Karimganj and

Hailakandi districts and you will find turtle meat being sold. How

can any species be protected if demand for its meat is so high? " he

asked.

 

Indeed, the very rivers and wetlands that once used to be the

repositories of turtles have now become veritable death traps for

them. Compounding the problem is the fact that turtles have almost

stopped migrating from the rivers of neighbouring Bangladesh through

the waterways of the Barak Valley.

 

Listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972,

turtles are mostly found on sandbanks, lakes and marshy lands. But

the growth of human settlements along the banks of the Barak is

leading to a gradual annihilation of the species.

 

Fishermen are known to even use spears to kill the gentle animals.

 

Bharali said public vigilance was imperative for the forest

department to be able to save turtles from fishermen. Citing an

instance, he said forest personnel seized a 40-kg turtle from a

market at Rongpur last year after receiving a complaint from

villagers. The turtle had been taken to the market to be killed and

sold.

 

Although forest officials in Cachar aren't sure about the exact

population of turtles in the Barak Valley, many believe that the

figure would be less than 100.

 

The five species of turtles found in south Assam are the Indo-

Gangetic flap-shell turtle, narrow-headed soft-shell turtle, Indian

soft-shell turtle, Indian peacock soft-shell turtle and Asian giant

soft-shell turtle. The Indo-Gangetic variety is the rarest.

 

The Environment Society of South Assam, a Silchar-based NGO, and the

Bombay Natural History Society are conducting a study on turtles.

They will draft a list of proposals to save turtles.

 

Abhik Gupta of the ecology department of Assam University is leading

the study team.