Visakhapatnam: Baby turtles let out into sea

Visakhapatnam: The morning could not have been better for the World Wildlife Day on Friday with Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings being released into the sea at RK Beach by administration officials with wildlife activists participating. The eggs laid by an adult Olive Ridley turtle are shifted to hatcheries along the coast, where they hatch after 45 days. “Till now, 554 Olive Ridleys were released into the sea from different places across the coast. About 47,000 eggs have been collected from 250 nests. Those hatchlings will be released in 100 days,” said collector Pravin Kumar.

With seven types of Olive Ridley turtles visiting the coast every year, the collector asked the fishermen to be aware of the tiny ones, which might get trapped in their fishing nets while they go for fishing. The AP forest department has set a record of collecting 47,000 eggs in the coast this year. The five hatcheries along the Vizag coast are Victory at Sea, Jodugullapalem, Appugarh, Pedan-agamayyapalem and Tan-thadi. “Last year, it was around 39,000, but this year the number will be more, as there is another 20 days for the turtles to lay eggs,” said divisional forest officer Alan Teron.

The Indira Gandhi Zoo-logical Park conducted a Walk the Turtle talk programme in the city as pa-rt of zoo outreach activities. NGO organisations Gre-en Climate, National Green Corps, Visakha Walkers Club and Rotary Club of Vizag Metro took part in the walk and supported the cause of wildlife conservation. In all, 225 schoolchildren from various schools, officials, executive staff from all departments, retired professors, members of walkers clubs participated in the walk.

“Walk the turtle talk was a title developed to grab the attention of walkers to talk about the turtle on this day to bring responsiveness on wildlife conservation and its relevance to maintain ecological balances in the nature and environment protection,” said zoo curator B. Vijaya Kumar. In the evening, zoo has put on display newborn animals for visitors. A three-months-old hyena, Ayush, a 23-day-old sac-red baboon Anirudh and some birds were displayed. Mr Vasu Praksh, director of Sri Prakash Educa-tional Institutes, and Dr Ramji, principal of Sri Chaithanya Engineering Colleges, were honoured at the show. They named two six-day-old hyenas Akshay and Akhada.