CHENNAI: Four hundred and sixty plus superstar tortoises (Geochelone elegans) in conjunction with the Indian roof turtles (Pangshura tecta) that were rescued through the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials in Madurai about 10 days ago, discovered a new home in Vandalur zoo on Wednesday.
Zoo director in-charge Shekhar Kumar Niraj advised the TOI that a general of 468 superstar tortoises and 11 Indian roof turtles were rescued through the DRI officials from Madurai and Pudukottai districts whilst they were being taken to Sri Lanka.
The superstar tortoises were collected from the wild in Cuddappah district of Andhra Pradesh and from a few coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. The Indian roof turtle is located alongside the most important rivers such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in north India and Assam. Both the species are in call for in the puppy trade.
A DRI officer stated quickly after the tortoise consignment was once intercepted, it was once handed over to forest officials in Madurai. However, because the turtles need a suitable recent water habitat, it was once decided through forest officials to send them to Vandalur zoo for rehabilitation.
All the rescued reptiles have reached safely the zoo, Niraj stated. “There was once no casualty whilst transporting them to the zoo. Generally, quickly after the seizure a few reptiles used to die because of suffocation, as they're stuffed in suitcases with no scope for air flow. Some of them die after seizure because of tension brought about through cramped packing. But, this time the officials took additional care to soundly delivery them to the zoo. This is the second one such a hit transportation with no mortality of seized reptiles,” he stated.
Forest officials in the state say this is the first ever seizure of Indian roof turtles which can be collected from the Brahmaputra river in Assam being smuggled to the south. Zoo officials too stated they were rehabilitating a new species of turtle from the eastern portions of the rustic.
Samples for DNA analysis might be collected from the reptiles and bio-metric profile of them might be accrued. The collected samples might be despatched to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad. This is being carried out to trace the native land or the habitat from the place those reptiles were collected. Once that is found out, then freeing them back of their authentic habitat might be simple, stated a senior officer.
Zoo director in-charge Shekhar Kumar Niraj advised the TOI that a general of 468 superstar tortoises and 11 Indian roof turtles were rescued through the DRI officials from Madurai and Pudukottai districts whilst they were being taken to Sri Lanka.
The superstar tortoises were collected from the wild in Cuddappah district of Andhra Pradesh and from a few coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. The Indian roof turtle is located alongside the most important rivers such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in north India and Assam. Both the species are in call for in the puppy trade.
A DRI officer stated quickly after the tortoise consignment was once intercepted, it was once handed over to forest officials in Madurai. However, because the turtles need a suitable recent water habitat, it was once decided through forest officials to send them to Vandalur zoo for rehabilitation.
All the rescued reptiles have reached safely the zoo, Niraj stated. “There was once no casualty whilst transporting them to the zoo. Generally, quickly after the seizure a few reptiles used to die because of suffocation, as they're stuffed in suitcases with no scope for air flow. Some of them die after seizure because of tension brought about through cramped packing. But, this time the officials took additional care to soundly delivery them to the zoo. This is the second one such a hit transportation with no mortality of seized reptiles,” he stated.
Forest officials in the state say this is the first ever seizure of Indian roof turtles which can be collected from the Brahmaputra river in Assam being smuggled to the south. Zoo officials too stated they were rehabilitating a new species of turtle from the eastern portions of the rustic.
Samples for DNA analysis might be collected from the reptiles and bio-metric profile of them might be accrued. The collected samples might be despatched to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad. This is being carried out to trace the native land or the habitat from the place those reptiles were collected. Once that is found out, then freeing them back of their authentic habitat might be simple, stated a senior officer.
470 rescued star tortoises brought to Vandalur zoo
![470 rescued star tortoises brought to Vandalur zoo]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 18, 2018
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