The cooperation of communites was critical to new observations of rare river turtle in tropical India
Danny Graham
A group of biologists has discovered a breeding population of extremely rare Cantor’s giant softshell turtles (Pelochelys cantorii) on the banks of the Chandragiri River in India’s tropical south-west. It’s the first time this secretive species has been recorded nesting, according to a study published in the journal Oryx. With data on the species’ ecology, behaviour and population size limited, the finding – which relied heavily on community knowledge – represents an important breakthrough for conservationists.
Cantor’s giant softshell turtle, also known as the ‘frog-faced softshell’ due to its amphibian-like facial features, is a large species of freshwater turtle with a broad head, small eyes and a pointed snout. Despite its wide distribution across much of southern Asia, the species, which can exceed more than one metre in length and weigh more than 100kg, is in decline and classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat destruction is the main cause of the population drop, though the turtles are also harvested for meat and are often killed when they become caught in fishing gear.
The quest to uncover the whereabouts of the softshell took a team of researchers to the south-west Indian sta
