India's 1st satellite-tagged Ganges softshell turtle seeks to monitor habitats in Brahmaputra basin

Guwahati: In an exercise that could shed more lights on its habitats, conservationists have for the first time successfully satellite-tagged Ganges softshell turtle, an endangered species, in the Brahmaputra river basin in Assam, on Friday.

A healthy adult turtle was captured, fitted with the transmitter under veterinary supervision, and released back into its natural habitat along the north bank of the Brahmaputra river in Kaziranga National Park in Assam with close oversight by wildlife researchers and Forest.

"This is a significant event for Kaziranga to understand and identify valuable habitats for endangered species such as the Ganges Softshell Turtle in the riverine landscape of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve," director of Kaziranga, Sonali Ghosh said in a statement.

Ganges softshell turtle (Nilssonia gangetica) can be differentiated from other riverine turtles in having distinct arrow head shaped markings on top of head. The species is widespread in India inhabiting large rivers, lakes and reservoirs. In spite of its wide distribution, the species is considered as endangered in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These long lived large growing animals are major predators of rivers and help clean up the system by feeding on dead and decaying animal matter.

Assam is one of the world’s top priority areas in freshwater turtle conservation and Kaziranga alone has five out of the eight softshell turtle species reported from India.

"Understanding seasonal movement pattern, home range and identifying critical habitats like nesting and breeding will help in active management of softshell in the Brahmaputra river basin” said Abhijit Das, Senior Scientist, Wildlife institute of India (WII).

The satellite-tagging exercise was carried out under the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, led by the team of WII in collaboration with the authorities of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and the Assam forest department, with financial support from the National Geographic Society.