Slow Tortoise Gets a Helping Hand to Escape Forest Fire
Typically, ground forest fires can be deadly for slow moving creatures such as tortoises, or ground nesting birds, and even snakes in some instances.
Hyderabad: A slow-moving star-shelled tortoise, making it way to safety from a fast-spreading ground fire in the Amrabad tiger reserve, received a helping hand to not just escape from the hot zone but also safety in another part of the forest.
Forest staff and forest watchers waged a 20-hour battled against a fire in the Domalapenta range of the tiger reserve, not very far from the national highway that runs through the reserve, and managed to put it out on Wednesday, officials said. While the extent of the fire was not very large; officials said fallen leaves in around 60 hectares were burnt.
A medical officer from the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Dr Kalyan Sagar, who was coming along the highway from Brahmagiri (formerly Domalapenta) on his two-wheeler, saw the tortoise crossing the road, and stopped to pick up the slow-moving tortoise for its safety. Noticing that the fire was spreading near the road, he carried it to the forest department office in Achampet and handed it over to the staff.
Typically, ground forest fires can be deadly for slow moving creatures such as tortoises, or ground nesting birds, and even snakes in some instances.
The star-shelled tortoise is listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN, and is heavily poached for the pet trade, and the Nallamala forests which are part of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, is one of its natural habitats in the state.