Guwahati: A unique, rare, yellow coloured turtle was rescued by the residents of Sujanpur village in Soro block of Balasore district on Sunday. Immediately after spotting it, the locals called the Forest Department officials to hand over the rare species.
Equally amazed as the locals, Bhanoomitra Acharya, Wildlife Warden said, "The whole shell and the body of the rescued turtle are yellow. This is a rare turtle, I have never seen one like this."
IFS officer Susanta Nanda shared a small clip of the yellow-coloured turtle on Twitter. He wrote "A rare yellow turtle was spotted and rescued in Balasore, Odisha yesterday. Most probably it was an albino. One such aberration was recorded in Sindh a few years back." In another tweet, sharing a close-up picture of the turtle, Nanda added, "Mark the pink eyes, an indicative feature of albinism."
Odisha is home to many such rare species of reptiles. Last month, a rare species of Trionychidae turtle was caught by a fisherman at the Deuli dam under the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. The forest department later released it in Deuli dam. Trionychidae turtles have softer shells and are mostly found in Africa, Asia, and North America.