'Never seen before': Rare yellow turtle rescued in India

Yellow turtle rescued by villagers in Odisha's Balasore district

credit : The Financial Express

New Delhi : A rare yellow turtle rescued by villagers in eastern India has been handed over to scientists who will study the extremely rare reptile.

Locals from the Odisha's Balasore district spotted the unique yellow turtle on Sunday.

Susanta Nanda, an Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer, also tweeted a video of the small turtle, saying "most probably it was an albino." He also shared a video of the turtle swimming in water inside a vessel.

A rare yellow turtle was spotted & rescued in Balasore, Odisha yesterday.

Most probably it was an albino. One such aberration was recorded by locals in Sindh few years back. pic.twitter.com/ZHAN8bVccU

— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) July 20, 2020

Speaking about the rescued reptile, Bhanoomitra Acharya, Wildlife Warden, said that it was a unique find.

"The whole shell and the body of the rescued turtle is yellow. This is a rare turtle, I have never seen one like this," Acharya said.

The turtle also appeared to have pink eyes, a feature that also indicates albinism.

Close snap of the same. Mark the pink eyes, one indicative feature of albinism. pic.twitter.com/MfXrXVYbfH

— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) July 20, 2020

Last month, a rare species of Trionychidae turtle was caught by fishermen at Deuli Dam under the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. It was later released by the forest department in Deuli dam. Trionychidae turtles are softshell turtles, which are found in Africa, Asia, and North America.

The turtle isn’t the only rare and yellow creature that has been spotted in India recently.

A large group of yellow Indian bullfrogs was spotted in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district earlier this month.

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