65 critically endangered 'Batagur Baska' turtles hatch in Karamjal
Once believed to have gone extinct from the world, the arrival of these hatchlings gives a chance of survival to this now critically endangered species of turtles
Sixty-five hatchlings of the critically endangered Batagur Baska species have hatched from eggs at the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Sundarbans.
The hatchlings were collected and placed in conservation pans at the centre's turtle nursery this morning (5 May).
"On 15 February, three turtles laid 82 eggs. These eggs were collected and placed in sand. After careful nurturing, 65 babies began hatching from the Batagur Baska turtle eggs placed in the sandbed by the centre's pond this morning," said Azad Kabir, officer-in-charge of the Karamjal Wildlife and Breeding Centre in the eastern Sundarbans division.
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"These hatchlings will be raised in pans before being released into larger ponds. The Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre in the Sundarbans has successfully hatched 475 babies from 521 eggs so far," he added.
"There are approximately 300 species of turtles in the world. At least 26 species of turtles were once found in this region. Among them, the Batagur Baska species had disappeared. For this reason, researchers believed Batagur Baska no longer existed in the world since 2000," Azad said.
"To confirm this, researchers began searching for any remaining Batagur Baska in the wild in 2008. Subsequently, eight Batagur Baska turtles were found in various water bodies in Noakhali and Barishal, including four males and four females," he added.
According to the Karamjal Wildlife Breeding Centre, after rediscovering this species in the wild, they were taken to Gazipur's Bhawal Garh for breeding. The responsible forest department officials tried to carefully nurture and breed them.
When these efforts did not yield good results, in 2014, the original eight Batagur Baska turtles, along with their 94 offspring, were brought to the Karamjal Breeding Center.
Three additional organisations joined the Bangladesh Forest Department in researching Batagur Baska at Karamjal: Prokriti O Jibon Foundation (POJF), the Zoo Vienna research team from Austria, and the Turtle Survival Alliance from the US.
The critically endangered Batagur Baska turtles began laying eggs at the centre in 2017. There are currently 387 turtles of various sizes at the Karamjal centre in the Sundarbans.
