Kaziranga, August 28, 2015: A male juvenile spotted pond turtle was handed over to CWRC, the IFAW-WTI wildlife care facility, by the parents of Suraj Sahu, a five-year-old boy, who noticed the turtle first outside their house at Sapjuri in Assam on August 21, 2015.

“I saw a moving black stone like thing right outside our door at night. I picked it up and brought it inside. But when its mouth and four legs came out, I was shocked and called my parents,” Suraj said. The family had only seen a turtle either in books and calendars.

Raju’s parents then kept the turtle in a makeshift water body and informed CWRC MVS team the same night. The area is close to the Difflu River connecting the park and the turtle could have come from there. On receiving the information, the team went and brought the turtle to CWRC for observation.

Listed as an IUCN schedule -I specie, the spotted pond turtles are mostly found in the floodplains of Assam and Meghalaya and even in northern parts of India apart from Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“Our examination of the animal revealed it to be healthy and fit for release. Before releasing the turtle, we cut its scute for identification during post release monitoring,” said Dr. Panjit Basumatary, CWRC veterinarian. Later, the turtle was released in the Difflu River bed on August 22, 2015.