Imphal, Sept 30: Two endangered Malayam Box turtles were found and rescued from the vicinity of Loktak Lake in Manipur.
The endangered species in Manipur were handed over to a team of Wildlife Explorers Manipur and staff of District Forest Officer Bishnupur on Friday.
The turtles naturally live in tropical lowlands with temperatures between 23 to 35 Celcius and were rescued from Toubul and Thinungei villages of Manipur’s Bishnupur district near the Loktak lake.
According to forest official, the two turtles were caught by Khangembam Ramananda Singh of Toubul Mayai Leikai and Tongbram Nanao Singh of Thinungei Mayai Leikai on Friday in their fishing nets.
Follow NE Hub News with just a Click on Whatsapp; Direct Link here
The two fishermen while fetching grass for cattle found the turtles curled up in a fishing net at Loktak. Later, the turtles were relocated to their natural habitat in Jawa Lamjao, a part of the Loktak lake.
The relocations were made with the staff of Bishnupur Forest Division under the supervision of Dr Rebeka Soibam Chanu, MFS, district wildlife warden, and divisional forest officer Bishnupur.
Malayan box turtles are also known as the Amboina box turtle. They have a dark olive or black head with 3 yellow stripes along each side. Adults can reach up to 20 cm (8 inch).
Their shells are also dark olive or black in colour, which is domed. In captivity, this species can live more than 38 years while in the wild can live between 25-30 years.
“Malayan Box turtles live in lowland tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. They are aquatic and are found in temperatures between 23 to 35C (75 to 95oF). They are typically found in rice fields, marshes and shallow ponds due to their preference of still water,” said an environmentalist.
Malayan box turtles will eat an omnivorous diet consisting of fruit, vegetation, worms, crickets, fish and other insects.
Read:Â Tripura: 12-hours bandh disrupts normal life
WATCH:
Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.
Also, Follow us on-
Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub
Youtube channel-Â www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020
Instagram-Â www.instagram.com/nemediahub
