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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

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