Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Mass Hatching of Olive Ridley Turtles begins

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Arribadas, Olive Ridley Turtles

Mains level: Not Much

Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles began at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery, a major nesting site of these marine turtles.

Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles is a very celebrated news every year. Also make sure to look at the Rivers system in the region from the map above.

Olive Ridley Turtles

  • The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
  • In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
  • The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
  • The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Special feature: Mass nesting

  • They are best known for their behaviour of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
  • Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
  • They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
  • They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.

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3 years ago

On the WWF website, the status mentioned is “Endangered”. Can you please confirm?

https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/marine_turtles/olive_ridley_turtle/

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3 years ago
Reply to  Sukanya Rana

Oh okay, I stand corrected. Thanks, Sukanya. This helps.

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