Compilation of Research Information on Biological and Behavioural Aspects of Olive Ridley Turtles along the Orissa Coast of India - A Bibliographical Review for Identifying Gap Areas of Research - International Union for Conservation of Nature Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles Compilation of Research Information on Biological and Behavioural Aspects of Olive Ridley Turtles along the Orissa Coast of India - A Bibliographical Review for Identifying Gap Areas of Research - Submitted to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) India Country Office, New Delhi May 2009 2 Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles Published by: Wildlife Institute of India Post Box # 18, Chandrabani, Dehra Dun – 248 001 (Uttarakhand) E.mail : [email protected] Copyright © Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, 2009 This report may be quoted freely but the source must be acknowledged and cited as: Tripathy, B., R. S. Kumar, B. C. Choudhury, K. Sivakumar & A. K. Nayak. 2008. Compilation of Research Information on Biological and Behavioural Aspects of Olive Ridley Turtles along the Orissa Coast of India – A Bibliographical Review for Identifying Gap Areas of Research. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. Published as Final Report of the WII-IUCN Assignment for Compilation of Research Information on Biology and Behavioural Aspects of Olive Ridley Turtles along the Orissa Coast of India. 3 Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles CONTENTS Foreword 5 Acknowledgement 6 1. Introduction 7 1.1. Olive ridley turtle in Orissa 7 1.2. WII’s involvement in sea turtle research 8 1.3. Other Institutions involved 9 1.4. The need for this compilation 10 2. Objectives 11 3. Process of compilation of information 12 3.1. The Project team 12 3.2. Information gathering 12 3.3. Structure of the Bibliography 12 4. A thematic analysis of the Sea turtle literature 13 4.1. Summary of the research findings on olive ridley turtles of Orissa 14 4.2. Gap Areas of research on the olive ridley ridley turtles of Orissa 16 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 20 4 Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles FOREWORD It was in 1974 that the conservation community came to know about the world’s largest congregation (arribada) of olive ridley turtles at a place called Gahirmatha, located in Orissa, on the eastern coast of India. Subsequently, various issues relating to conservation of olive ridley turtles in this region came up for discussion at the World Conference on Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles held in Washington DC in 1979. Issues relating to this species including threats to its long term survival and ways to address it were discussed there. The deliberations at the conference set in motion activities both on management as well as on research and monitoring. While the national government agencies initiated action on the management front, the scientific community became engaged in studies on the species and its habitat. The long term survival of olive ridley turtles depends upon securing critical habitat requirements of the species in the eastern coast of India. However, as large number of developmental activities such as ports, oil exploration, etc. are proposed in this region, conservation and long term survival of the species are matters of concern. The scientific community therefore, has responsibility to provide credible information on various aspects of the species and its habitat which, in turn, would facilitate informed decisions on locating proposed development projects in the region. In light of the above, IUCN Asia engaged Wildlife Institute of India to review the available scientific literature on the olive ridley turtles of Orissa and identify gap areas in the knowledge base about the species. I hope this compilation provides biologists, managers, planners and administration, information on olive ridley turtles which can be used for developing appropriate conservation strategies. It also intends to provide guidance to researchers on the future direction for conducting studies on this species. I thank IUCN Asia and WII Scientists for their valuable inputs in bringing out this document. P. R. SINHA Director Wildlife Institute of India 5 Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is an outcome of a project given to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). We feel privileged that IUCN Asia Director Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji and Dr. T.P. Singh, Focal Point for India Programme considered the Wildlife Institute of India for undertaking this work. We express our sincere gratitude to Shri. P. R. Sinha, Director, WII for his advice and support, and Dr. V. B. Mathur, Dean, WII for providing us with all the necessary logistics for carrying out this work. We are thankful to the Orissa Forest Department for access to some of the old reports on sea turtles of Orissa, and particularly thank Dr. C. S. Kar and Dr. Sudhakar Kar, Senior Research Officers of the department. Also, we are indebted to Dr. A. K. Pattnaik, Director and Shri. Arun Mishra, Assistant Director of the Nandankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar for allowing us access to the Park Library & Documentation Centre. Important literature on the subject was made possible through individuals and Library & Documentation Centre-cum-Digital Repository Services of WII, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, & Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin; Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Mammalapuram; International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, and Group for Nature Preservation and Education, Chennai; Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore; Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore; Greenpeace, National Center for Biological Sciences, and The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore; Utkal University, Berhampur University, Sambalpur University, North Orissa University, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and Andhra University. This work would have not been possible without the help of Dr. L. N. Acharjyo, Former Veterinary Officer of Nandankanan Zoological Park, who provided much of the older literature on the olive ridley turtles of Orissa. Our sincere gratitude also to Dr.(Mrs.)P. Mohapatra, Reader in Zoology of Utkal University; Dr. R. C. Panigrahy, Professor and Dr. Laxman Nayak, Reader of Marine Biology, Berhampur Univeristy; Dr. S. K. Dutta, Professor & Head and Dr. Gunanidhi Sahoo, Lecturer at Dept. of Zoology, North Orissa University; Dr. P. S. Rajasekhar, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University; Shri. Ashis Senapati and Shri.Chitta Behera of Project Swarajya, Cuttack for providing us valuable literature on the work carried out earlier along the Orissa coast. We are thankful to Dr. Nicolas Pilcher and Dr. Kartik Shanker for their comments and suggestions on the preliminary draft of this compilation. Last but not the least, we are thankful to the Computer & GIS Cell for providing us necessary printing facility, and WII library staff for reprographic help of some of the older literature. The Project Team 6 Compilation of research information on Olive ridley turtles 1. INTRODUCTION Five of the seven known species of sea turtles: leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea, hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata, loggerhead Caretta caretta, green turtle Chelonia mydas and olive ridley Lepidochelys olivacea are reported from the Indian waters (Kar & Bhaskar, 1982). Except for the loggerhead turtle, all four other species are known to nest along the coast of the mainland and the Bay Islands of India (Kar & Bhaskar 1982, Biswas, 1982; Shanker & Choudhury, 2006; Tripathy, 2005). All the species of sea turtles found in India are presently endangered and are protected by law, and are included under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also prohibit trade in turtle products by signatory countries, placing these species in Appendix I, and Appendices I and II of the conventions respectively. 1.1. Olive ridley turtle in Orissa The olive ridley turtles, the smallest and the most numerous of the seven species of sea turtles, are famously known for their unique behavior of forming enormous nesting aggregations – a phenomenon known as “arribada” (Spanish for arrival). Along the Orissa coast of India, such unique, enormous nesting aggregations occur at three sites viz., Gahirmatha, Devi and Rushikulya. The Gahirmatha rookery was once believed to be the largest reported arribada nesting ground for olive ridley turtles in the world (Bustard, 1976), although the number of nesting aggregations and the census methods are in question (Tripathy, 2002; Shanker et al. 2004). Estimates of turtles nesting at Gahirmatha have ranged between 100,000 to 800,000 in different years (Patnaik et. al. 2001; Orissa Forest Department, 2004 [http://www.wildlifeorissa.org.in]). Gahirmatha is a Marine Sanctuary and the nesting beach is part of the Bhitarkanika National Park. It is located at the mouth of the River Maipura, between the Dharma River and Paradeep, along the northern Orissa coast. The mass nesting of olive ridley turtles at Gahirmatha takes place between December and March and the first arribada at Gahirmatha is sometimes followed by a second one of much lower intensity after a gap of