NEW KERALA (India) 23 June 06 Crocodile Bank breeds critically endangered species
Chennai (PTI): The Madras Crocodile Bank has successfully bred 'Kachuga Kachugas',a critically endangered species in the country, in their natural habitat on the banks of the Chambal in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
MCB's operation has resulted in over 400 hatchlings of the vanishing species, which are one month old now and are being preserved in special facilities along the Chambal river, created in land acquired from local farmers there.
Director of MCB, Harry Andrews told PTI that a team of thirty members including wildlife experts and local villagers were involved in this breeding operation.
"We have also bred 250 hatchlings of Kachuga Dongoka, another such species," he said, adding hatchlings will be preserved for two years and then released into the wild.
"Last year the MCB had identified the ten species including the Kachuga Kachuga and the Kachuga Dongoka as critically endangered, at an international workshop held here, following which a survey was taken up to identify the existence of these species in various states," Andrews said.
"The two species were found concentrated along the Chambal in MP and UP, while interestingly, not a single breeding female was spotted in Rajasthan. The two species of turtles are conspicuously absent in the Southern regions." Andrews said that the MCB team had to overcome several hurdles in the form of dacoits, illegal fishermen, the sand-mining mafia in addition to jackals and birds found abundantly in the Chambal wildlife sanctuary.
Crocodile Bank breeds critically endangered species