Sandbank-Dweller Gets Fresh Nesting Study

Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle Batagur kachuga is a critically endangered species from the Gangetic Plain of Northern India. Pawan Shantiprakash Pareek, Monowar Alam Khalid, Christopher J. Michaels & Shailendra Singh have made great strides to monitor the nesting habitat of said turtle.

As the name suggests, the red colouring of the turtle starts near the nasal passages and continues down to the front of the shell. Stripes of red, yellow and blue run down the back of the male turtle's neck when attracting females.

Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle Batagur kachuga in-situ

This species can grow up to around 55cm and weigh 25 kilograms with males being smaller. To gain this heavy weight, they eat fruits and aquatic plants in deep, flowing freshwater rivers. Their rear flippers and hard, ridged shell allows them to wade through the depths to basking spots on the river's edge.

It is exactly along the river, 38km of the lower Chambal River, where this study was conducted between the nesting seasons within 2021, 2022 and 2023. 119 sites were studied along the river. "Steep slopes, low moisture content, deep adjacent water and substrate composed largely of small-moderate grain size" were the ideal preferences for the turtles.

Temperature and light conditions could also influence site choice but these were not measured at the time.

Chambal River Gorge

Such findings can help determine a conservation strategy for the survival of the species. Removals of threat to any particular nesting sites can be made directly with this new information. Furthermore, a captive breeding programme can be devised to mimic the natural environment in order to aid population numbers.