Brian D. Horne1, Shailendra Singh2, Rishikesh Sharma2, Ashutosh Tripathi2,
Harry V. Andrews2 and Dhruvjyoti Basu2

Populations of the Red-Crowned Roof Turtle, Kachuga kachuga, have markedly decreased due to uncontrolled and non-sustainable commercial exploitation. It is now feared that less than 200 females of reproductive age remain in the wild. Historically found throughout the Ganges River drainage; the best remaining populations of K. kachuga are within India’s Chambal River National Sanctuary, a mere 400 km in length. In 2006, extensive surveys found 74 intact nests that produced 1249 K. kachuga hatchlings. We released 968 K. kachuga shortly after hatching and 273 are being maintained in captivity for later release. To date in 2007, only 41 nests could be moved to riverine hatcheries. Current research includes documentation of temperature sex determination patterns. Future research plans include monitoring the dispersal and survivorship of head-started turtles to determine optimum age/size for release. In addition, their movement patterns and survivorship will be documented using sonic telemetry.
Poster Session

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