Mangalore: City Animal Care Activists Rescue Rare Leatherback Tortoise
 
Pics: Mahesh Lester
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (RD/CN)

Mangalore, Oct 8: Members of the city’s Animal Care Trust, rescued a rare leatherback tortoise weighing 40 kgs, on Tuesday October 7. Locals spotted the tortoise in the Netravati river, below the century-old British bridge at Panemangalore, in Bantwal taluk on Tuesday morning.

They trapped the tortoise with a fishing hook and secured it in a room in a house by the river bank. They were preparing to auction-off the tortoise, when the animal activists arrived along with forest department personnel.
 
The tortoise was thus saved from ending up as a savoury dish on quite a few dining tables. It was then handed over to the Pilikula Wildlife Sanctuary, located on the outskirts of the city.
 
The rare tortoise is believed to be over 50 years old. The sanctuary is already home to a tortoise of this species besides several other smaller tortoises.