Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle

• 05 May 2025

Source: PIB

The Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur kachuga) has been reintroduced into the Ganga River after 30-years, marking a major success under the Namami Gange Mission and the Turtle Survival Alliance India (TSAFI) project. 

• Turtles were released in the Haiderpur Wetland, a Ramsar site located near the Bijnor Ganga Barrage within the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh. 

Red Crowned Roofed Turtle:  

 

• About:  It is a freshwater turtle belonging to the family Geoemydidae. Also known as Bengal Roof Turtle, they are one of the 24 species endemic to India. 
• Key Characteristics: The females grow up to 56 cm and 25 kg, while males are smaller and exhibit bright red, yellow, white, and blue markings on the face and neck.  
  • The carapace (upper shell) is strongly keeled, particularly in juveniles and plastron (lower shell) is laterally angulated in younger individuals, giving them a sharp-edged appearance. 
  • This herbivorous species feeds on aquatic plants and lays 11–30 eggs during March–April. 
• Habitat & Distribution: It was historically found in the river systems of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, particularly in large, deep rivers like the Ganga, Chambal, and Brahmaputra.  
  • Due to habitat degradation, sand mining, and pollution, it disappeared from the Ganga’s main channel.  
  • It has now been reintroduced into the Haiderpur Wetland in Uttar Pradesh, India, which connects to the Ganga and offers a suitable environment for its revival. 
• Major Threats: Habitat loss due to pollution, dam construction, and water extraction. Sand mining and seasonal agriculture destroy its nesting sandbars, illegal fishing nets cause drowning and poaching and the illegal pet trade. 
• Protection Status: 
  • IUCN Red List : Critically Endangered  
  • Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972: Schedule I 
  • CITES : Appendix II  

Turtle Survival Alliance India (TSAFI 

• TSAFI is the Indian chapter of the global Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), formed in 2001 under IUCN to protect freshwater turtles and tortoises from threats like habitat loss, illegal trade, and climate change, with the mission of “Zero Turtle Extinctions in the 21st Century. 

Read More: Red Crowned Roofed Turtle, Olive Ridley Turtles in India