Agra: Poachers make off with two dozen baby turtles, wildlife officials hot on their trail

Poachers target baby turtles for their meat, unaware of the damage they cause the river ecosystem by hunting down the creatures.

Barely a few hours after wildlife authorities released 785 baby turtles into the Chambal river in Agra on the occasion of World Turtle Day, the news of turtles being hunted down by poachers in the region has alarmed the local forest department and the police. On Sunday, a team of wildlife officials conducted a raid in the Raipur Dikshit village of Jaitpur after receiving intelligence of turtles being hunted by poachers there. By the time the team reached the village, the poachers had managed to escape with two dozen turtles and the team only found a dead turtle, which has been sent for post mortem. The team had conducted the raid on getting information on social media about two dozen turtles being captured in the village using nets.