Released and tracked - endangered northern river terrapins, bred in captivity, are closely monitored after being released into their natural mangrove habitat in the Sundarbans - thanks to India’s first-ever GPS tagging and tracking programme.
Thanks to technology, Shailendra Singh keeps constant tabs on his turtles.
Not just any turtles but northern river terrapins, which conservationists had feared were extinct in the wild.
Singh is the programme director of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA)-India, a non-profit organisation that tries to prevent the terrapin from vanishing forever.
In January this year, TSA, with the help of the local community, released some of the captive-bred terrapins in the National Park East Zone, near Chamta, so that they could become part of the larger natural ecosystem.
“This was the first-ever GPS tagging and tracking of any freshwater turtle in India. We’re getting signals from six animals,” said Singh.
But it was not always so.
For years conservationists had feared the terrapin was extinct in the wild.
When Singh found a handful of the riverine terrapins in a pond in the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in 2008, he was overjoyed. The year before he had tried to find the species in coastal West Bengal and Odisha and failed.
Terrapins are semi-aquatic turtles that live in freshwater or brackish water. Once widespread in the mangroves of Odisha and West Bengal, its population steadily declined due to poaching for meat and other reasons.
The northern river terrapin species – known by its scientific name Batagur baska – is native to Southeast Asia. It is critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
TSA started their conservation effort in the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in coordination with the West Bengal Forest Department.
Today, thanks to their captive breeding programme started in 2012, there are now 370 juveniles compared to the single one Singh found in 2007.
In the beginning TSA started running awareness campaigns, back in 2007, to protect the terrapins as local communities used to poach the turtles for their meat. They used to raid the nests for the terrapins’ eggs too.
“We started by asking villagers when they saw the terrapins last and if they still found eggs and adults in their regular habitats,” Upmanyu Chakraborty, who works for TSA in the Sundarbans, told Village Square. “We asked fishermen if terrapins still got entangled in their nets.”
The team told the locals how the health of their mangroves and the presence of terrapins were connected.
“Because terrapins are scavengers, they keep the water clean. This in turn would ensure better livelihood for communities that are mostly dependent on the mangroves,” said Chakraborty.
The villagers also learned about the protection laws they might get in trouble for breaking. But the link between the mangroves and their livelihood helped them see the importance of terrapin conservation the most.
Crab catchers don’t catch fish or terrapins to sell. But the terrapins get entangled in fishers’ nets and eventually die.
But bringing awareness to this simple problem has made the fishermen want to help in the conservation efforts, by being more active about releasing any terrapins caught in their nets.
“I catch crabs in the saline creeks for a living. These days when I’m in my boat, sometimes I spot the turtles in deep water near the sea. I think they are increasing in number. Over a decade ago I saw none,” Nitish Bhonjo of the Lahiripur village told Village Square.
These days when I’m in my boat, sometimes I spot the turtles in deep water near the sea. Over a decade ago I saw none.”
“Sensitisation has worked in protecting the turtles to a great extent,” Bhonjo added.
The forest department is also making extra effort to create awareness.
“Before 2011 there was no effort to protect the turtle. But now the community is aware and they no longer catch or consume the turtles,” said Chittaranjan Ray, a resident of Satjeliaisland – one of the main islands in the Sundarbans, which also spans both India and Bangladesh.
In the Kumirmari village, panchayat representative Ankan Mandal helped create two ponds for the turtles using his earthwork machinery.
The ponds cover 10,800 sq feet each with connecting canals.
The three male and seven female terrapins released back into the wild in January, all aged over nine years, have been fitted with global positioning system (GPS) transmitters on their backs.
The transmitters are an essential tool to help TSA track each terrapin.
“This was the first-ever GPS tagging and tracking of any freshwater turtle in India. We’re getting signals from six animals,” said Singh.
One has been spotted 400 km away – in Karamjal, Bangladesh, where a TSA centre functions.
“The fishers there duly informed their fisher friends on the Indian side,” Singh said.
Their efforts will be bolstered by a recently released Mission Plan 2030, which will help ensure the survival of the terrapins in their natural habitat.
The deputy field director of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, Justin Jones, said the transmitters would send data for two years.
“It will help us study the animals’ behaviour and movement. This will also guide us in future releases,” he said.
Just before the release TSA ramped up its awareness campaign.
But that was not the only protective measure the conservationists took to aid the turtles in their journey into the wild.
Before the release, the terrapins were taken to the local Bonbibi temple for blessings. Bonbibi is the forest goddess whose protection people in the Sundarbans seek from tigers and crocodiles.
The northern river terrapins need mangroves for foraging and sand bars near the sea to nest and lay eggs.
Singh views the Sundarbans as the last hope for the terrapins. But the symbiotic relationship means the mangroves benefit from a thriving turtle population too.
“They are one of the best indicators of mangrove health,” said Singh.
Though Odisha’s Bhitarkanika mangroves are also suitable, the conservation focus is now in the Sundarbans.
But constant monitoring will be required to ensure the turtles thrive.
“As few freshwater sources drain into the mangroves now, higher salinity may be an emerging threat for their survival in the long run,” said Singh.
Deepanwita Gita Niyogi is a Delhi-based journalist.
