Over 6 lakh Olive Ridley turtles lay eggs on Odisha beach

Berhampur:

Rushikulya river estuary in Odisha’s Ganjam district has emerged as a major roost for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles as over 6.37 lakh turtles laid eggs on the beach during the eight-day period of mass nesting, official sources said. Are.

The mass nesting of turtles started on the 3 km long beach from Podampeta to Bateshwar area near the river mouth from February 23 and continued till Thursday. As many as 6,37,008 turtles have laid eggs during this period, which is 86,000 more than last year, said Sunny Khokkar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Berhampur.

The DFO claimed that this time the rooks have broken all previous records in nesting.

Sources said last year 5,50,317 turtles laid eggs, while in 2018 over 4.82 lakh laid eggs in the rookery.

Since this time, mass nesting occurred a month earlier, experts expect more hatchlings to emerge. The DFO said, “We are hopeful that this time the chicks will also leave soon, because this time the nests have been made on a large scale.”

Mr. Khokkar said that they have taken all necessary measures to protect the eggs in the boat. Sufficient number of personnel, including local people, have been deployed to keep a watch on the eggs of poachers. He said that since female turtles go back to sea after laying eggs, predators such as jackals, wild dogs, wild boar and birds will be on the lookout for eggs.

Furthermore, as a measure to protect the eggs from poachers, the authorities have put up a fence around the area. Sources said before the hatchlings emerge, forest officials will cover the entire area with mosquito nets to protect them from the birds.

“Since the mother turtles do not wait to see the baby turtles coming out of the sand pits after about 45 to 50 days of nesting, we are taking care of the eggs and baby turtles in the absence of their mothers, till they hatch. They do not crawl into the sea,” said the DFO.

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