The population of tortoise is on the verge of decline in Coimbatore said an environmentalist, Chandrshekhar.
Chandrshekhar said that a large number of this amphibian was smuggled across the globe from India as a popular belief persists that turtle flesh has medicinal value.
He added that mostly three types of turtle are available in India, such as flap turtle, snap-shelled turtle and star turtle and the number of all of these species was decreasing at an alarming rate.
“These tortoises are smuggled to foreign countries for their meat. The star tortoises are especially good for improving soil fertility. If they are grown in the rural areas, they would improve the fertility of the soil. These are being used for human consumption. But the meat of these tortoises has no medicinal properties and they are just like any other organism in this world. So, here in this park we try to protect these tortoise species,” said Chandrashekhar.
He added that turtle flesh had no medicinal properties. He also advocated for prevention of illegal export of tortoise, saying that spreading awareness was required.
The purpose of World Turtle Day, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.
Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from people dressing up as turtles or wearing green summer dresses, saving turtles caught on highways to research activities.
