Olive Ridley Turtle: Olive Ridley Turtles tagging by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

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Olive Ridley Turtle- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Recently, Scientists have resumed tagging of Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery along the Odisha coast.

Olive Ridley Turtle Project: Researchers of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) are carrying out tagging of the Olive Ridleys at three mass nesting sites- Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth and Rushikulya.
- The Olive Ridley Turtle tagging exercise was undertaken in Odisha in January 2021 after a span of about 25 years and 1,556 turtles had been tagged.
Associated Benefits:
- Olive Ridley sea turtles tagging would help in identifying the migration path and places visited by Olive Ridley turtles after congregation and nesting.
- Besides, the growth of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles could be measured during the current study.
- The study would also reveal the inter-rookery movement of Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha.
- The migration pattern of Olive Ridley Turtle of Odisha to other countries would be recorded in detail.

About: Olive Ridley Sea Turtles derive their name from their olive-colored carapace. Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
- Eating habit: Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are
Habitat:
- Globally: Olive Ridley Turtles are found in warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
- In India: Odisha Coast is known for its breeding grounds for Olive Ridley Turtles. Odisha’s Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is the world’s largest colony of breeding of Olive Ridley
Arribada (Mass Nesting): Mass nesting of Olive Ridley Turtle in Odisha is also known as Arribada where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
- The olive ridley turtles turn up in millions for mass nesting along the Odisha coast every year namely at three river mouths- Dhamara, Devi and Rushikulya.

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Olive Ridley Turtle is listed under Scheduled 1 of the WLP Act.
IUCN Red List: Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are put in the ‘Vulnerable’ category in the Red Book List of IUCN.
CITES: Olive Ridley Turtle is listed under ‘Appendix I’ of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).