Coimbatore : In what could be the announcing of a loud alarm call to conserve the biodiversity at the Singanallur Lake, volunteers of the Centre for Urban Biodiversity Conservation and Education (CUBE) have spotted a Rock Terrapin or Indian Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga) on the bunds of the lake.
Coimbatore : In what could be the announcing of a loud alarm call to conserve the biodiversity at the Singanallur Lake, volunteers of the Centre for Urban Biodiversity Conservation and Education (CUBE) have spotted a Rock Terrapin or Indian Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga) on the bunds of the lake.
The turtle was spotted during the Nature Education Programme conducted on the lake bund on Friday, when a group of students from the Corporation Middle School from SIHS Colony were taken on the nature trail by CUBE volunteers.
Around mid noon, the turtle was spotted on the lake moving towards the lake from its possible nesting site on the bund.
Earlier, volunteers had spotted the Indian Flapshell turtle breeding on the lake bund. The lake also hosts a few more species of turtles.
“Turtles are an important component of a lake ecosystem and it is also an indication that the lake is healthy. It makes conservation a necessity as we can clearly see that lakes are being destroyed,” said E. Jagan Ezhumalai, a researcher at CUBE.
He further added that the spotting of the turtle has increased the responsibility of people in conserving the lake.
According to experts, the Rock Terrapin breeds during the months of July and August.
They lay upto seven eggs at a time and the incubation period is upto 149 days. They are omnivorous, feeding on plants and meat and are nocturnal.
They are currently in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) risk category of ‘Near Threatened’ species.
Being one of the largest turtles, they grow upto one feet and are found in warmer bodies including lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. They are distributed in the hill region of Western Ghats.
A separate distribution is also found in North and North east India and also in countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Maldives and in the Indian Ocean, where they could have been introduced.