An encounter with a rare reptile in the Anamalai Hills

An encounter with a rare reptile in the Anamalai Hills

Views: 1636 | October 30, 2018

The palm-sized cane turtle is endemic to the Indian Western Ghats.

It was a monsoon morning in the Anamalai hills. Ferns and shrubs were dancing to the pitter-patter of water droplets falling from the canopy. Very few birds were vocal as many of them were busy trying to keep themselves dry before they go hunting for their meals. Malabar Giant Squirrels and Nilgiri Langurs were contemplating whether to take a rest in such misty weather as they were crossing across tree canopies clumsily. I too was soaked to the bone, walking towards the camp shed. I was welcomed to the camp with a cup of steaming black chai.

As I gulped down the last sip, one forest watcher entered the camp with awed eyes and asked me to follow him. I grabbed my camera and a pair of binoculars and started walking hurriedly to match his pace. After a short walk, we were standing in the middle of a shola forest patch. He pointed to the forest floor and asked me to spot something. That something turned out to be one among the rare reptiles, tiny and endemic to our forests— the Forest Cane Turtle!

© Siddarth Machado

After scanning the forest floor for a while, I spotted this brilliantly camouflaged turtle, just about the size of my palm. The tiny little fellow was diving into a thick blanket of leaf litter that was very easy to miss. I took a closer look at this green shelled fellow, who was now conscious of our presence. He quickly contracted himself into his carapace - the shell. The relatively flatter carapace with a prominent middle ridge resembled a leaf fallen to the ground. The brownish-green carapace blended well with background of forest floor. The snout looked similar to the bill of a parrot, elongated and curved at the tip. The eyes were proportionately bigger to its body size with yellow iris around black pupil. Males have bright red, yellow and black head; females are drab - with larger body size than males.

The Forest Cane Turtles are forest dwelling and restricted to the dense evergreen forests of the Western Ghats. They feed mainly on invertebrates living in the leaf litter like beetles, millipedes, earthworms, snails, etc. The Forest Cane Turtles are also known to feed on large snails like Indrella ampula. Their diet also consists of plant material including seeds, leaves, fruits and mushrooms. They feed on fruits of figs (Ficus sp.), orangeberry (Glycosmis arborea), Diospyros buxifolia to name a few. Unlike most of the turtles and tortoises, cane turtles are found away from the perennial water source. Areas with dense canopy and rocky terrain are their favourite spots. They are largely nocturnal in habit and highly restricted to the evergreen patches only. They breed during monsoon, and lay eggs in a nest that is deep beneath the soil.

© Pooja Pawar

This species has a remarkable importance in the field of herpetology. It was first described by a British naturalist Henderson in 1912 who named it Geoemyda silvatica. The second time it rediscovered was only after 70 years by J. Vijaya – India’s first woman herpetologist, who then studied this turtle in detail. In honour of late Vijaya’s contribution towards ecology and conservation of cane turtle, the species was lately renamed as Vijayachelys silvatica. Recently, cane turtle sightings have been reported from the forests of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The vibrant landscape of the Anamalai Hills has always been astonishing for nature enthusiasts and wildlife biologists. While walking through the misty forests of the Anamalais, special encounters of such rare and beautiful creatures are worth the effort of walking in drenched clothes. This magnificent sighting of the cane turtle will always remain an enduring memory of Anamalais for me.

Conservation Status:

Being one of the rare species, Forest Cane Turtle is considered to be globally endangered by IUCN. Their populations are highly fragmented and occur in very few geographic locations. The species bear very high risk of population decline due to reduction in quality habitat.

Threats:

Since Forest Cane Turtles are very sensitive their habitat, disturbance and degradation of evergreen forests is the biggest threat they face. They are hunted for their meat by many tribal communities in the Western Ghats causing direct threat to their population. Using dogs to find this cryptic species for its consumption used to be a common practice among tribals. The species has given the utmost legal protection under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Written by Pooja Pawar
This article was first published in The Polachi Papyrus

Photo credits: Rujan Sarkar (Cover)

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