Odisha has begun a seven-month fishing ban to protect the Olive Ridley turtles that arrive on its coast every winter, in a season when the mass nesting that normally defines its beaches failed to appear earlier this year.
turtle conservation
A satellite-tagged Olive Ridley turtle from Odisha has travelled 6,719 km in 271 days to waters east of Sri Lanka, an early result from a tracking programme that aims to follow a Schedule I species well beyond the nesting beaches where its conservation has traditionally focused.
India has close to 30 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises. Seventeen of them carry Schedule I protection under the Wildlife Protection Act — the same schedule that covers tigers. Most people have never heard of a single one.
In an endeavour to ensure the safety of turtles during nesting and hatching seasons, wildlife officials and stakeholders […]