{"id":359900,"date":"2026-04-03T16:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=359900"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:08:17","slug":"indian-softshell-gangetic-softshell-turtles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indian-softshell-gangetic-softshell-turtles\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Softshell\/Gangetic Softshell Turtles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News: <\/strong>Police rescued 16 Indian Softshell turtles from a smuggler in Jharcha, Greater Noida, during a routine check, exposing illegal wildlife trade.<\/p>\n<h2>About Indian Softshell\/Gangetic Softshell Turtles<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_359904\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-359904\" style=\"width: 398px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-359904\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Research-Gate.jpg?resize=398%2C243&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Indian Softshell\/Gangetic Softshell Turtles\" width=\"398\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Research-Gate.jpg?resize=300%2C183&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Research-Gate.jpg?resize=768%2C469&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-Research-Gate.jpg?w=829&amp;ssl=1 829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 398px) 100vw, 398px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-359904\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Research Gate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The Indian softshell turtle (<em>Nilssonia gangetica<\/em>) is a <strong>freshwater turtle species found in South Asia.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat:<\/strong> It lives in rivers, canals, ponds, and <strong>freshwater<\/strong> systems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution: <\/strong>The species is found in major river basins such as the <strong>Indus, Ganga and Mahanadi,<\/strong> along with their tributaries and intervening drainages.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geographical range:<\/strong> It occurs across <strong>India<\/strong> (including <strong>Assam, Bihar,, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal<\/strong>), and is also found in <strong>Afghanistan, Bangladesh, southern Nepal and Pakistan.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Characteristics<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Carapace structure:<\/strong> It has a <strong>large soft shell<\/strong> with <strong>eight pairs of costal plates<\/strong> and well-developed <strong>plastral callosities<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Appearance:<\/strong> The body is <strong>olive<\/strong> above with yellowish lower parts and distinct black streaks on the head.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Size:<\/strong> It can reach a carapace <strong>length of up to 94 cm.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet:<\/strong> It feeds mainly on <strong>fish, amphibians, carrion<\/strong>, other animal matter, and also consumes <strong>aquatic plants<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Breeding:<\/strong> It breeds during <strong>August and November<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nests<\/strong> are located in <strong>islands<\/strong> and <strong>clayey river banks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecological role:<\/strong> They are <strong>predatory scavengers<\/strong> that help <strong>maintain water quality <\/strong>by consuming organic waste and carrion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cultural significance:<\/strong> It is considered sacred and is often maintained in <strong>temple ponds in Odisha.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Habitat degradation through hydrologic alteration<\/li>\n<li>Accidental drowning in fishing nets<\/li>\n<li>Poaching<\/li>\n<li>Illegal trade<\/li>\n<li>Sand mining<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conservation Status<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IUCN Red List:<\/strong> <strong>Vulnerable<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>CITES:<\/strong> The species is listed under Appendix I.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972:<\/strong> The species is placed under Schedule I (Part II), which provides it the highest level of legal protection in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Police rescued 16 Indian Softshell turtles from a smuggler in Jharcha, Greater Noida, during a routine check, exposing illegal wildlife trade. About Indian Softshell\/Gangetic Softshell Turtles The Indian softshell turtle (Nilssonia gangetica) is a freshwater turtle species found in South Asia. Habitat: It lives in rivers, canals, ponds, and freshwater systems. Distribution: The species&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indian-softshell-gangetic-softshell-turtles\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Indian Softshell\/Gangetic Softshell Turtles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-359900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}