Coimbatore: While there is a silent battle between conservationists and perpetrators to protect the biodiversity of the Singanallur lake, nature seems to be showing brilliant signs in favour of conservation, with one of them emerging on Saturday.
The sight has become a matter of great joy for conservationists despite anti-natural elements trying their best to disrupt biodiversity at the lake.
Coimbatore: While there is a silent battle between conservationists and perpetrators to protect the biodiversity of the Singanallur lake, nature seems to be showing brilliant signs in favour of conservation, with one of them emerging on Saturday.
The emergence proved to be a matter of great joy for the volunteers of the Centre for Urban Biodiversity Conservation and Education (CUBE), who during their regular ant survey routine spotted four Indian Flapshell hatchlings breaking into the world.
A team of volunteers who were surveying the Western bund for ants found the hatchlings emerging out of the soil close to the miyawaki patches.
“Each measured around 3.5 cms and could grow upto 350 mm on length (35 cm),” said a volunteer.
According to sources, the species of turtle lays around 10 - 15 eggs and the incubation period of eggs under soil ranges between 9 - 11 months.
It is listed in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The highest order of protection from law, on par with that of the Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lion and Asian Elephants.
The population of this species is highly fragmented and is on the decline due to overexploitation for meat and destruction of habitat of this soft shell freshwater species
“At a time when anti-social elements are trying to belittle each conservation activity, such signs give us more motivation to strive for the welfare of biodiversity at the lake. It is a huge positive sign seeing Indian Flapshell Turtles breeding at a city lake,” added a volunteer.
The volunteers also claimed that the status of the biodiversity at the lake has been qualified by a schedule one species, raising a demand of the protection status for the lake on the whole.
According to sources, fishermen had been altering the water channels of the lake to not let water drip away from the lake. In their efforts, they had reportedly damaged two sluice gates (outlet) on the Western bund. However, excessive inflow of water during the monsoon has been flooding the only outlet near the Western bund since Friday.
Activists have called for an immediate action to stop such illegal activities at the lake, which could prove devastating for the lake’s biodiversity.
“Most of creatures including fishes and turtles move between lakes and streams using water channels to keep the linkage and gene pool alive. When the channels are damaged, the linkage is cut off resulting in their extinction,” claimed an activist.
Notably, volunteers had earlier spotted adult Indian Flapshell Turtles on numerous occasions at the lake. They had also spotted the Indian Indian Rock Terrapin breeding in the lake in July.