Pact signed to conserve rare turtle in Assam

Pact signed to conserve rare turtle in Assam

Subject: Environment

Context: A major temple in Assam has signed a memorandum of understanding with two green NGOs, the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden and the Kamrup district administration for the long-term conservation of the rare freshwater black softshell turtle or the Nilssonianigricans.

Concept:

About Black Softshell Turtle (Nilssonianigricans)

• Until sightings along the Brahmaputra’s drainage in Assam, the black softshell turtle was thought to be “extinct in the wild” and confined only to ponds of temples in northeastern India and Bangladesh.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature had in 2021 listed the turtle as “critically endangered”.
• But it does not enjoy legal protection under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, although it has traditionally been hunted for its meat and cartilage, traded in regional and international markets.
• The black softshell turtle is being bred in the pond of Hayagriva Madhab Temple at Hajo in Guwahati, Assam.
• Locals regard the turtles in the pond as Kurma avatar of Lord Vishnu to whom the Hajo temple is dedicated.
• India hosts 28 species of turtles, of which 20 are found in Assam. Threats to turtles include hunting for meat and eggs silt mining, encroachment of wetlands and changes in flooding pattern have had a disastrous impact on the turtle population.