Batagur Baska Turtles

Photo: Collected Turtle Survival Alliance researcher Sriparna Dutta; in set, transmitter implanted turtle rescued in Khulna

India seeks return of GPS implanted turtles rescued in Bangladesh

S Jones Justin, deputy field director of India's Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, said, "We have asked the Bangladesh authorities to see if the endangered species can be returned to us. But before that, we want to get back the satellite trackers that were implanted to the two turtles."

The official said, "As far as we know, the fishermen who got the turtles have detached the trackers. But those devices are very expensive. So, if we get those back, it would be very useful for our research work."

Each foreign-made satellite tracker costs more than three lakh Indian rupees (four thousand dollars). After paying customs duty and other duties on it, the forest department had to spend about four lakh rupees for each of them.

Ten Batagur Baska turtles were released from West Bengal's Sundarbans on January 19 by implanting 10 such trackers. Seven of them were females and three were male turtles. The main objective of this project was to study the behaviour and movement, breeding and roaming of that endangered species of turtles.

One of the ten was caught on February 25 in Dighalia upazila of Khulna and the other on March 5 in Patuakhali's Payra river. Later, the officials of the forest department of Bangladesh rescued the two turtles and kept them in the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Center for the time being.

The Turtle Survival Alliance, a turtle conservation organization, is working hand in hand with the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve of the Government of India in this research project on 'Batagur Baska' turtles.

Sriparna Dutta, a researcher and biologist at the institute, said, "We have been monitoring the turtles' movements since they were released into the wild in January. A few days later, we noticed that four of them had entered Bangladesh after crossing rivers."