On Monday, December 9, the Wildlife Crime Control Unit of the Forest Department of Bangladesh responded to an anonymous tip in the village of Chandpur. 

The call took them to a warehouse in Shahrashti, where they found nearly 1,000 endangered turtles at the center of an abandoned smuggling den. 

According to Wildlife Crime Control Unit inspector Asim Mallik, it was the largest-ever rescue of endangered freshwater turtles in the history of the unit.

“Local residents and traders informed us that an illegal syndicate had been operating this business under the guise of fish trading for a long time,” Mallik told The Business Standard, a Bangladeshi newspaper. 

 “The turtles were being stored at the warehouse to be smuggled to India through the Benapole border.” 

At the time of publication, no arrests had been made — but the turtles were in safe hands. 

“Legal action is underway, and a case will be filed to bring those responsible to justice,” Mallik pledged. 

The staggering amount of turtles, which weighed approximately 800 kilograms (approximately 1763 pounds) altogether, was comprised of three endangered species: the Indian roofed turtle (Sundhi Kachim), the brown roofed turtle (Kori Kaitta), and the yellow pond turtle (Holud Kachhap). 

The operation was conducted from the night of December 9 into the morning of December 10. 

Fortunately, Mallik said, the team responded just in time. 

“All the rescued turtles were alive,” he reassured. 

Mallik also went on to note that all of the rescued turtles are protected under the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, which was added to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 2012. The act forbids the captivity, transportation, and sale of the endangered species. 

In Bangladesh and India, rare turtles and tortoises are smuggled across the border for a multitude of reasons: food, medicine, and even “good luck charms.” 

But tortoises and freshwater turtles are both vital when it comes to helping their natural environments and keeping waterways clean.

For instance, they graze on algae and algae-eating organisms and disperse the seeds of crucial plants, trees, and fungi as they forage and burrow. 

They also are one of few aquatic animals that enjoy snacking on carrion like dead fish — a trait that keeps their habitats healthy for an entire web of animals. 

For Mallik and his team, it was clear that the rescue operation was unlike anything they had encountered before. 

He is hopeful that the sheer scale of the operation brings more attention to the endangered turtles and the invaluable benefits they bring to the environment. 

“This is the largest seizure of turtles ever recorded in Bangladesh,” he said, in recognition of the efforts by the Forest Department officials. 

“The rescued turtles are currently under the care of the Forest Department and will soon be released into natural water bodies.”

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Header images via Wildlife Crime Control Unit Forest Department and Zoo Praha (CC BY-SA 3.0)