Mumbai: Bandra resident rescues rare endangered hawksbill turtle after miscreants stand on it to take selfies

A 44-year-old resident of Hill Road in Mumbai’s Bandra rescued an endangered Hawksbill turtle that was taken away by two people after the turtle, which was stuck in a net, was washed ashore near Bandra Bandstand.

Ashish Pingle who runs a hotel at Dadar west was on his regular jogging regime along Bandstand around 2.20pm when he saw some commotion as he was about to complete his last lap. As he neared the spot he saw one man standing on something and taking selfie and to his horror he soon realised that the man was standing on a live turtle. “I lost my cool and questioned the man as to what was he thinking. Soon another man who was with him decided to move away with the turtle and began carrying the turtle along with the nets and when I questioned them they said they were taking to their home,” Pingle informed adding that he called up the police control room and also tried calling PETA but could not get through to them.

Pingle saw the men entrering the slums at the end of bandstand and even saw where they lived and once the cops arrived he took them to the spot and found that they had kept the turtle in a drum full of water. “I explained the cops the entire story and even the cops agreed that the turtle should be released. We brought the turtle to the same spot and cut the nets and freed it. As soon as it was free it rushed towards water, however before releasing it we had checked and did not find any injury to it,” he said adding that the entire release was video recorded.

DNA on Wednesday had reported about how the image of two people carrying turtle stuck in nets had gone viral and animal activists had demanded an enquiry into the incident.

Pawan Sharma, Wildlife Warden for Thane and Sunish Kunju, Wildlife Warden for Mumbai City who were following up the incident since the images surfaced said that they were now planning to approach all the police stations that have coastal area in their jurisdiction and will put up posters about important marine mammals along with helpline of NGOs who will help in such cases. “It was important to carry out medical examination of the turtle but we appreciate the efforts put in by Pingle to ensure that the turtle was rescued,” he said.

The hawksbill is protected under Schedule I - Part - II of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Marine experts said that there have been very few hawksbill turtles are named after their narrow and pointed beak and are also highly endangered species and are very rarely reported washed ashore along Mumbai.

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