Three endangered turtles rescued from Kurla on I-Day

Three turtles were rescued by a member of the Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) on the Independence Day. While two were star tortoises, a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act, the other one was red eared slider turtle.

Some boys were carrying the turtles in a plastic bag near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla  when animal lover Chandramnai Yadav spotted it. When inquired about it, the boys tried to sell the turtles to him for Rs300.

“They told me that the previous owners had returned them to their pet shop and bought smaller turtles. As soon as they saw the NGO’s volunteers, they dropped the bag and ran,” Yadav said. The star tortoise is an endangered and protected species. A number of people buy these animals from illegal animal markets in the city and abandon them as they grow bigger.

The third turtle was the exotic Red eared slider turtle of American origin, which is the most popular pet turtle in the world. At around 12pm this turtle was found on the road near the Ganesh visarjan pond in Rabale, Navi Mumbai.

 “During heavy rains, the pond tends to overflow, he must have been washed out then. People buy these turtles as pets when they are small and don’t know what to do when they grow up,” says Sunish Kunju of the PAWS.

“These species are killed if found in the wild. It is my appeal to the public, don’t indulge in buying these animals, instead inform concerned officials,” Kunju said.

These turtles will now be rehabilitated after obtaining required permissions from the forest department.