Indian Black Turtle:
The Marakkanam police seized 46 live Indian Black Turtles ( Melanochelys trijuga ) from two persons who were allegedly smuggling them on a two-wheeler, from neighbouring Puducherry.
- Indian Black Turtle is a medium-sized found across the Indian subcontinent.
- It is an aquatic species, mainly associated with standing water bodies, sometimes rivers.
- The species is an omnivore, consuming both aquatic macrophytes and invertebrates.
- The species shows a crepuscular to a nocturnal lifestyle, with individuals seen foraging after dark along the edges of water bodies.
- The distribution in India includes the hill ranges of the Western Ghats, south of Gujarat, and the southeast coast, and then a separate disjunct distribution in northern and northeastern India.
- Conservation status: IUCN: Least concern
