Nagpur: Hingna Range Forest Official on Wednesday midnight saving Leith softshell turtles weighing more than 22kg and 83 cm-long from the housing colony.
Leith’s softshell turtles are endemic to Indian peninsular and found in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.
Hingna RFO Ashish Ninawe received a call at around 1:30 a.m.
from the Dhakulkar haze resident told me that big turtles were walking on the road.
These turtles are round and stumpy.
Even though they spend most of their lives in water, they are also adapted to walk on land.
Ninawe and his staff rushed to the place and saved the turtles and shifted him to the Transit Treatment Center (TTC), Seminary Hills, where it was under observation of Dr.
Margasatwa vets, Dr.
Syed Bilal Ali, and Dr.
Siddhant.
“We will release turtles in the original habitat as soon as the veterinarian states it is suitable,” said Kundan Hate, a member of the state wildlife council, and RFO Gangadhar Jadhav.
Ninawe was afraid the reptile might come out of the nearest Vena River.
The colony where amphibians was found very close to the river.
It feeds on mosquito larvae, crabs, freshwater mollusca, and fish.