NEW DELHI, 30th April, 2025 (WAM) -- India celebrated the revival of critically endangered species of animal population along the banks of India’s lifeline river, the Ganga (Ganges).
India's Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced that an ambitious conservation project to tag endangered turtles with sonic devices to monitor their safety and migration will be conducted over the next two years.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti was created in 2019 to harness, conserve and manage India’s abundant water resources.
Under the new landmark project, 20 endangered turtles have been transferred from the river to a Turtle Conservation Centre in Uttar Pradesh state to be released into natural wetlands after sonic tagging.
“This initiative marks a historic step in the Ganga’s ecosystem,” the Ministry said in a fact sheet on the project. “During the coming monsoon season, the wetlands will connect with the main channel of the Ganga, allowing the turtles to disperse at their own pace.”
India’s conservationists reported in the fact sheet that for 30 years, no red-crowned roofed turtles have been found alive in the main river channel of the Ganga. However, recent studies suggested via “indirect evidence” of the return of nine species of these extremely endangered turtles and five species of other ecologically vulnerable turtles in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad).
The revival of near-extinct and rare turtle species is the result of a Ganga revival Mission initiative of the government, which is “making the Ganga cleaner and restoring its biodiversity and the ecosystem,” the Ministry said.