A rare yellow turtle was discovered and rescued by villagers in Odisha’s Balasore district on Sunday, ANI reported. Residents of Sujanpur village handed over the turtle to forest department officials.
“The whole shell and the body of the rescued turtle is yellow,” Bhanoomitra Acharya, wildlife warden, told ANI. “This is a rare turtle, I have never seen one like this.”
Indian Forest Services officer Susanta Nanda shared a video of the turtle swimming in water inside a vessel. “Most probably it was an albino,” Nanda tweeted. “One such aberration was recorded by locals in Sindh few years back.”
In another tweet, he posted a close-up picture of the reptile. “Mark the pink eyes, one indicative feature of albinism,” Nanda added.
Last month, a rare species of Trionychidae turtle was caught by fishermen at Deuli Dam in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. These are softshell turtles found in Africa, Asia, and North America.
Also read: In Assam, a centuries-old temple practice is helping attempts to revive an endangered turtle species
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