Olive Ridley Tagging For Research Begins After Almost 25 Years In Odisha

Olive Ridley Tagging For Research Begins After Almost 25 Years In Odisha

The Forest Department, Government of Odisha, has launched the tagging of Olive Ridley sea turtles on Tuesday at Rushikulya mouth near Berhampur with the vision to lead further research on the elusive sea creatures. Instead of GPS enabled tags, the protected turtles will sport physical tags which will be uniquely numbered.

The drive was undertaken by the Odisha Forest and Environment Department in collaboration with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The exercise is being done by the government after a 25 years gap. The last such drive was reportedly held in 1995/96. The decision was taken by a high-power committee under the chairmanship of Odisha Chief Secretary.

While addressing the media, the DFO of Berhampur, Amlan Nayak said, “Initially, the Wildlife Institute of India and the Zoological Survey of India were entrusted with the task of tagging the turtles. However, we commenced the drive today in collaboration with the ZSI.”

“The primary purpose of tagging is to gain more knowledge on their movement. We wanted to know where they are moving after laying eggs here on Rushikulya mouth. Whether the same turtles return to the same beach every year or move around looking for suitable nests.

There will not be any obstruction as their mating season has almost come to an end. Usually these kinds of drives are conducted after their mating season ends.” The forest department has set a target of tagging 30,000 turtles this year. Notably, only 8,000 turtles were tagged last time in 1995/96.