Sign In
Learn bits
Ecology & Environment
Pradeep Kumar

16/02/21 11:53 AM IST

Leatherback Turtle

In news

Proposals for tourism and port development in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands have conservationists worried over the fate of some of the most important nesting populations of the Giant Leatherback turtle in this part of the Indian Ocean.

Issue
  • The Little Andaman plan, which proposes phased growth of tourism on this virtually untouched island, has sought the de-reservation of over 200 sq km of pristine rainforest and also of about 140 sq km of the Onge Tribal Reserve.
  • Two sites where key components of the tourism plan are to be implemented are both Leatherback nesting sites — South Bay along the southern coast of the island and West Bay along its western coast.
  • South Bay is proposed to be part of the “Leisure Zone” where a film city, a residential district and a tourism special economic zone are to come up.
Leatherback Turtle
  • The leatherback is the largest turtle in the world. They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell and are named for their tough rubbery skin and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. Leatherbacks are highly migratory, some swimming over
  • 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds.
  • They are also accomplished divers with the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet—deeper than most marine mammals.
  • The leatherback turtle has the widest distribution of any reptile with a global range with nesting mainly on tropical or subtropical beaches.
  • Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world. They face threats on both nesting beaches and in the marine environment.
All leatherback populations are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is estimated that the global population has declined 40 percent over the past three generations. 

Source: The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 May

Key objectives of caste count

'The Union Cabinet has decided that the next Census will include questions on caste to its enumeration of India’s population, for the first time in almost a century. ' T

Read More

05 May

2 new genome-edited rice varieties

'Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently released two genome-edited varieties of rice, the first achievement of its kind in the country.' These two varieties, which

Read More

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps