THE HINDU (Chennai, India) 25 June 06 Crocodile Bank to conserve dwindling soft-shelled turtles

Chennai (PTI): Endangered turtle species 'Chitra Indica', immensely in demand abroad as a delicacy and facing the threat of being wiped out of the country due to poaching, could get a fresh lease of life through an innovative breeding programme.

For the first time, the Madras Crocodile Bank (MCB) and the Kukrail Endangered Breeding Centre (KEBC) in Uttar Pradesh have planned the programme for breeding this species, found rarely along river Chambal in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Director of MCB, Harry Andrews told PTI.

The soft-shelled Indica has a huge market in Hong Kong, Thailand and China, as its body part called the 'plastron' is edible and used in soups. It is also widely used as an aphrodisiac and an ingredient in Chinese medicines, he says.

The species is also most sought after for its palatable meat, with the female, which normally weighs 20-25 kgs and can grow upto a length of 70 cms, holding more appeal.

"Reports say that poachers mostly from the UP, MP and West Bengal, smuggle it abroad via Bangladesh," Andrews says.

"Within a few years time, the Indica will be wiped out from Indian waters because the demand overseas has shot up manifold leading to organised poaching," he says.

Poaching mafia in connivance with local dacoits, tie long ropes across the river with over 1,000 hooks to kill all turtles randomly. They then hand pick the Indica. Thus all other species in the Chambal also face the risk of extinction.

To preserve the species, MCB and KEBC planned to identify Indica females and set up a hatchery in Chambal sanctuary for breeding them in their habitat.
Crocodile Bank to conserve dwindling soft-shelled turtles

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