The turtles were being smuggled into Bangladesh near the Kalanchi Border Outpost in the Gaighata police station area of North 24-Parganas. (Reuters photo)
Page 1 of 4
KOLKATA:The Border Security Force (BSF) seized 185 rare Asian Black Spotted turtles close to the Indo-Bangla border late on Thursday. The turtles were being smuggled into Bangladesh near the Kalanchi Border Outpost in the Gaighata police station area of North 24-Parganas. The turtles are valued at nearly Rs 1.11 crore in the international market. The turtles were handed over to forest department officials.
"On Thursday evening, information was received that a consignment of turtles were to be smuggled across the border. Troops of the 152Bn launched a special operation to trap the smugglers. They soon spotted two persons walking towards the unfenced international border with two large cloth bags. When they were challenged, the men fled across the border, taking advantage of the darkness and dense fog. They dropped the bags though. On searching the bags, 185 turtles were found," a senior BSF officer said.
The BSF informed both the customs office at Bongaon and the forest department. After inspection, the turtles were handed over to the forest department by customs officials. The forest officials identified the species as rare Asian Black Spotted Turtles. This is an Indian species that is in great demand in the international market. It is a medium-sized freshwater turtle from South Asia. Though it is known as an 'Asian' turtle, the colour varies from country to country. The rigid upper shell of 'carapace' ranges from reddish to dark brown and black and often has three yellowish ridges running along its length.
The underside or 'plastron' is a uniform brown with a light trim around the edge. The head of the Indian black turtle may have orange or yellow spots. The intensity of these spots varies between the six sub-species. The Asian Black Spotted Turtles are also known as the Bengal Black Turtle, Black Pond Turtle, Burmese Black Turtle, Chochin Black Turtle, Parker's Black Turtle and Sri Lanka Black Turtle.
"In some places, these turtles are hunted for their meat. Elsewhere, they are exploited for the pet trade. These threats are more severe in countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. In these countries, the animal is highly endangered. The species is also threatened in western Thailand where the major threats are hunting and loss of habitat. In certain South East Asian markets, these turtles fetch a price of US$ 2,000 apiece. This is the biggest seizure or rare Asian Black Spotted turtles in recent times," a forest department official said.
Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
BSF seizes 185 rare Asian Black Spotted turtles from India-Bangladesh border
Dengan url
http://uratrefleksi.blogspot.com/2015/02/bsf-seizes-185-rare-asian-black-spotted.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
BSF seizes 185 rare Asian Black Spotted turtles from India-Bangladesh border
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
BSF seizes 185 rare Asian Black Spotted turtles from India-Bangladesh border
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar