Olive Ridley tagging begins at Rushikulya

BERHAMPUR: After 25 years, the process to tag Olive Ridley turtles commenced at Rushikulya coast on Tuesday.  This time around 30,000 turtles would be fitted with the tags having unique numbers to monitor their movement and nesting pattern.

As part of the exercise being carried out by Forest and Environment department and Zoological Survey of India, Gopalpur unit after a gap of 25 years, six turtles (two males and four females) were tagged on the day in presence of Berhampur DFO, Amlan Nayak and scientists from Zoological Survey of India. The last such initiative was undertaken from 1994 to 1996 when 8,000 turtles were tagged. 

In another development, the two-day crocodile census conducted at Ghodahada reservoir and 10 other ponds under Berhampur Forest Division, ended on the day. For the exercise, the reservoir was divided into 10 segments. Each segment was led by a forest officer and comprised a boatman and other personnel. The census was conducted under the supervision of assistant conservator of forest, Ashok Kumar Behera. While 53 crocodiles were counted in Ghodahada reservoir, 19 were sighted at the other water bodies.