GUWAHATI, April 28 - A black softshell turtle aged about 60 years died at Jorpukhuri here on Tuesday. The twin Jorpukhuri ponds located beside the historic Ugratara Devalaya at Uzan Bazar, are home to a large number of turtles.
According to member of the Ugratara Temple Committee Kailash Sharma, due to the lockdown, there were only four people at the temple when he got the news about the turtle�s death around 10 am. The turtle was buried on the temple premises after a discussion with conservationist Jayaditya Purkayastha.
Purkayastha, from conservation group Good Earth which is working to protect the turtles, said that the female turtle aged about 60 years died a natural death on Tuesday morning.
�There was no suspicion of any kind of unnatural death. The turtle had a natural death considering the age factor. The temple committee buried it as per rituals. When a series of deaths occur then there is a need for post-mortem to ascertain the real cause,� Purkayastha added.
The black softshell turtle was declared �extinct in wild� by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2002.
