Rescued turtle needs bigger space in Transit Treatment Center
The weight of the turtle is only about 70 kg and it is about four feet. After being rescued from Naik Talao in central Nagpur.
NAGPUR: Leith’s softshell turtle, which was netted by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation team on Sunday after a wait of nearly 45 days, is struggling for enough space, and civic officials are also planning to expand the Transit Treatment Center (TTC), the one in Seminary Hills.
The weight of the turtle is only about 70 kg and it is about four feet. After being rescued from Naik Talao in central Nagpur, it has been shifted to TTC. Nagpur Municipal Corporation officials also say that high drama was created while trying to shift the reptile.
“The local residents, who feel the tortoise was a God-sent, opposed the move to relocate the animal and did not allow the team to take it away. People even say that the turtle was in the lake from the time it was established during the Bhonsle regime,” NMC officials involved in the operation said.
There is also a small Hanuman temple on the banks of the lake. “Residents told us that the tortoise used to come out and stay for some time near the temple, which they called his prayer. Therefore, they also never harmed it,” officials said.
Forest officials have confirmed that Leith’s softshell turtle
The turtle was also seen for the first time on 1st March during the cleaning work of the lake. Due to the decrease in the water level on Sunday, its rescue has become easy.
However, the forest and Nagpur Municipal Corporation team pacified the local people, who had also given permission to move the reptile to the TTC, with the condition that when the lake gets filled again during the rains, The animal is also released back into the water body. It also looks like the turtle is going to be staying at the TTC for at least another six months.
Wildlife doctors Dr. Rajesh Phulsunge, Dr. Sudharshan Kakde and Dr. Pankaj Thorat are also monitoring the turtle.
Forest officials have also confirmed that Leith’s softshell turtle (Nilsonia lethi) is also a very large freshwater softshell turtle that is endemic to peninsular India and lives in rivers and water bodies.
According to the IUCN Red List, its status is Critically Endangered. It is also listed under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. As on June 30, 2021 the same species has been rescued from a residential colony in Hingna and released in its natural habitat.
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