Grievously injured Olive Ridley found dead at Kumari beach

The turtle was headless and the lower body was filled with blood spots. Moreover, its hind limbs were heavily damaged and the body was in a highly decomposed stage. It would have been hit by a fishing trawler, sources said on Sunday.

According to Davidson Sargunam, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Member in South Asia, normally Olive Ridley visit beaches along Kanniyakumari coast for nesting from late December to March. Due to some strong beliefs that its meat and eggs possess therapeutic characters, the turtle is poached and eggs collected and marketed often.

The marine animal is in Vulnerable Category of the IUCN Red List and legally protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Appendix I of the CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which prohibits trade in turtle products.

Commenting on it, Davidson said that the Ridley is protected by law and it’s a scavenging animal that cleans the marine areas and hence proper awareness should be inculcated to the fishers, people bordering the marine areas and in educational institutions to conserve the turtle. Further, Davidson said such unlawful acts of hunting and poaching of the animal would certainly attract jail term and heavy fine.

He also added that in recent years the animal was heavily disturbed by hunting and poaching, unregulated ecotourism, encroachments of marine areas and beaches, habitat disturbance and mushrooming of fishing vessels.