Hello everyone,I am a new comer here.Today I am writing about some yellow turtles that had returned after long time.
Suddenly a yellowish head protrudes from inside the yellow body and looks back and forth, two black eyes. Yellowish black spots on the back.
The sun has risen after a downpour; Adults have less movement. While busy with food, the little ones are looking for the sun from one end of the cage to the other.
The small tortoise cage borders the boundary wall on the right side of the entrance to the zoo. There is not much crowd, some children are peeking at the exceptional turtles.
This endangered ‘yellow mountain tortoise’ family listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature is growing in this cage of Chittagong Zoo.
Chittagong Zoo curator said. Shahadat Hossain Shuvo told bdnews24.com that three yellow mountain turtles were brought to the zoo from a hilly area of Chittagong about 15 years ago.
"Of these, four turtle babies were born at the end of 2013. Now there are a total of seven yellow mountain turtles. Of which four are men and three are girls. The three big turtles are about 20 years old. The little ones are about seven years old. ”
However, after 2013, the turtles did not lay eggs. The English name for the yellow mountain tortoise is Elongated tortoise and the scientific name is Indotestudo elongata.
They are found in the evergreen forests of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet in Bangladesh. The hills are surrounded by dense forests, bushes and rhymes. But unlike other turtles, they spend most of their time on land, not in water.
Besides Bangladesh, they live in India, Nepal, Myanmar, the Thai Peninsula, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and South China.
This endangered yellow mountain turtle is red listed in the IUCN 2015 list. According to the list of 2020, they are very endangered.
Chittagong University Professor of Zoology. Farid Ahsan told bdnews24.com, “I saw them on the university campus before. They are not very common these days as they are very few in number. They are basically land turtles. ”
He said that the growth of yellow mountain turtles is slowing down. Even if they get a chance to move normally, they will reproduce. ”
Adult yellow mountain turtles weigh three to four kilograms. Newly hatched babies are four centimeters long and weigh about 35 grams.
Their breeding season is from May to October. The female tortoise lays two to four eggs at a time. After 130 to 190 days, the eggs hatch.
The yellow mountain turtle eats vegetables, young leaves, fruits, snails without shells, meat, eggs, insects and fungi.
Chittagong Zoo Management Committee Member Secretary. Ruhul Amin told bdnews24.com: "We are happy to save this endangered species of tortoise. We will take initiative on how to increase their number further.
"It simply came to our notice then. If we can increase the number of turtles of this species, that will be the success. ”
The male tortoise of this species matures in four years and the female tortoise in six to eight years.
Zoo curator said. Shahadat said a large cage had been planned for the turtles and the site had already been selected. Due to the coronavirus crisis, it was no longer possible to build cages. Now the work will begin.
"Turtles born in 2013 are nearing adulthood. I will try to get eggs and babies from these. I hope I will succeed. ”
The Chittagong Zoo has rare white tigers, lions, Asian bears, freshwater crocodiles, African zebras, hyenas, various species of deer and a variety of domestic and foreign birds.