Indian Flapshell Turtles

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, forest officials from Odisha found 40 Indian flapshell turtles in baskets in an alleged smuggling racket.

About:

• Indian flapshell turtle is a freshwater species of turtle and is found in many states.
  • The “flap-shelled” name stems from the presence of femoral flaps located on the plastron. These flaps of skin cover the limbs when they retract into the shell.
  • It is a relatively small soft-shell turtle with a carapace length of up to 350 millimetres.

Scientific Name: Lissemys punctata

• Distribution:
  • They are found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh (Indus and Ganges drainages), and Myanmar (Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers).
  • They live in the shallow, quiet, often stagnant waters of rivers, streams, marshes, ponds, lakes and irrigation canals, and tanks.
  • These turtles prefer waters with sand or mud bottoms because of their tendency to burrow.

Conservation Status:                     

• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• CITES:Appendix II
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972:Schedule I

Threats:

• Turtles are smuggled and killed for their supposed aphrodisiac properties, livestock feed, to make leather from their skins, to make potions from their blood and to use as fishing bait.
• Turtles are also used for meat and medicines.

Steps Taken for Conservation:

• KURMA App:
  • It has a built-in digital field guide covering 29 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises of India.
  • It was developed by the Indian Turtle Conservation Action Network (ITCAN) in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance-India and Wildlife Conservation Society-India.
• World Turtle Dayis observed every year on 23^rd