It's #turtletuesday and today's species is the Tricarinate Hill Turtle (Melanochelys tricarinata). This lucky turtle is smilling despite its shell being fully burnt, thus missing its three yellow stripes on its shell! #FTTI #turtles
Pic: @BorthakurUdayan @aaranyak

Prescribed burning of grasslands occurs across many national parks in India as a management practice, but is a major threat to smaller taxa that thrive in grasslands. Turtles such as the Tricarinate turtle, Malayan Box turtle & Elongated tortoise are highly active in grasslands

They are thus vulnerable to burning as they might not be able to move to safer areas in time. Detailed studies on the effect of burning on turtles and tortoises are needed to inform management authorities on safer ways to conduct prescribed burning. #Turtles #FTTI