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Agartala, July 12: Tripura forest department has been contemplating roping in a national agency to conduct a survey on Matabari's famed Kalyan Sagar lake to ascertain the total strength of exotic Bostami turtles found in the lake.
The species found in and around the temple premises which is religiously regarded as the “Kurma Peetha” has been declared threatened under IUCN list. Apart from Tripura, this species is only found in some parts of Assam and Bangladesh’s Chittagong and Shylet.
On being contacted, sources in the forest department said, “The number of these exotic animals are gradually rising and in the last couple of years sightings have also become very frequent. We have set up a hatchery on the East side of the Kalyan Sagar lake where these animals lay eggs. The forest department has been working wholeheartedly to ensure nothing could harm the breeding process of the turtles”.
The sources also informed that the department was in touch with a national level agency for conducting a survey in the Kalyansagar lake and the adjoining wetlands. “These are basically freshwater turtles. Locals of the area have sighted them in the adjacent wetlands as well. We have also engaged the local communities in the preservation works. Since these animals are venerated by the local communities, life threats to them are also less”, the sources added.
When asked whether they had any specific figures on how many turtles are there now in the lake, a forest official said, “This is very hard to tell. Most of the time these animals stay in the lower layer of the lake finding out the exact number of the turtles is a herculean task. However, we have conducted a sample survey recently after recording the movements of the animal for 15-days uninterrupted. Our results suggest that the total number of the turtles would be somewhere around 250 to 260. We think figures suggested by an expert survey will be more precise which is why we are in talks with some national level agencies to complete the task as soon as possible”.