• Three persons engaged as mahouts in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve have been arrested for capturing and consuming a rare species of a freshwater turtle inside the one-horned rhino habitat.

POND TURTLES

• Spotted pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii) are named for the yellow or white spots on their black heads, legs and tails.
• They have large heads and short snouts, and their webbed feet help them swim.
• They are also known as Black Pond Turtle, Black Spotted Turtle, Hamilton’s Terrapin.
• They bask in the sun to regulate their body temperature. Their need for warm water and an intense basking area is important.
• They are found in large, deep rivers in India, Assam, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• In India, the species is distributed across the north, northeast and a few parts of central India
• These turtles are primarily carnivorous and eat aquatic invertebrates.
• Spotted pond turtles are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at twilight (dusk and dawn).
• Conservation Status:
  • International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix I

KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK

• Kaziranga National Park is a prestigious national park of India situated in the northeastern part of the country in the district of Golaghat and Nagoan in the state of Assam.
• It was created in the year of
• It was declared a National Park in
• It was declared a tiger reserve in
• Kaziranga was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique natural environment in the year of
• The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area by the Birdlife International Society as it is home to various species of migrating and inhabitant birds.
• It is situated on the banks of the river Brahmaputra.

FAUNA:

• It is home to the One-horned rhinoceros, Leopard, Fishing Cat, other Lesser cats, royal Bengal tiger, Large Indian Civet, Small Indian Civet, Sambar, Barking deer, Hog deer, Gaur, Hog Badger, Capped Langur, etc.
• It is also one of the last remaining homes of the endangered and endemic western hoolock gibbon, the only species of apes found in India.
• It is one of the last homes of the critically endangered Bengal florican.

FLORA:

• It is a mix of eastern wet alluvial grasslands, semi-evergreen forests and tropical moist deciduous forests.
• It is primarily famous for its dense and tall elephant grasses inter mixed with small swamplands.
• It also includes an abundant cover of water lilies, water hyacinths and lotus.