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New Indian Express

Community, agencies come together for conservation of endangered Asian giant tortoises in Nagaland

Guwahati: Ten critically endangered Asian giant tortoises, reintroduced in a community forest in Nagaland's Peren district, would be protected by a group of 'Tortoise Guardians' who are local youth from the community. Chisayi, divisional forest officer of Peren, said they had been engaged by the conservation project to ensure the protection of the released tortoises and assist in data collection. The tortoises were reintroduced in Peren through a community event by the Nagaland State Forest Department and India Turtle Conservation Program (ITCP). These were bred at the Nagaland Zoological Park which has India's largest captive population of the species. The Asian giant tortoise is the largest tortoise in mainland Asia, listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.