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Onlookers surround a rare turtle found in Bayazid Bostami Shrine in Bangladesh

By Mizan Rahman
Dhaka
Black soft shell turtles, the rare species found at Bayazid Bostami Shrine pond in Chittagong of southeastern Bangladesh, are on the verge of extinction.
Rampant misuse of the pond - the only natural habitat of these turtles in the country – by humans is posing a threat to their existence.
Also known as Bayazid Bostami turtles, which were classified as an ‘extinct in the wild’ species by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2002, these turtles declining in numbers as the man-made pond turning into a noxious cesspool thus adversely affecting their breeding.
Several installations that have come up around the pond pollute its water while waste is regularly dumped into the pond and foods not suitable for the turtles are fed to them by visitors to the shrine.
Experts are concerned over the fate of this rare species of turtles in the world.
A visit to the shrine found that a large shopping mall is coming up on the eastern side of the water body, and waste from shops around the shire finds its way into the pond.
Once completed, the mall will block out the sun, which is essential for the turtles to hatch their eggs, environmentalists fear.
Objections to Islamic shrine visitors feeding the turtles cooked foods bought from roadside eateries have also gone unheeded.
A Directorate of Environment survey has found that the pond is home to more then 100 black soft shell turtles.
Legend has it that Bayazid Bostami, a spiritual leader of Islam, brought the species to Bangladesh some 1,500 years ago. It is believed that while preaching Islam he visited Chittagong and chose this place to rear the turtles.
Later the place was turned into a shrine in his memory and the adjacent pond has been home to the turtles since then.
Incidentally, the species, which was once found in Assam in India too, now survives only in the pond of the shrine
Dr Gazi Asmat, a noted zoologist and professor of Chittagong University, said IUCN has classified the species as ‘extinct in the wild’ (EW).
He said if the present situation of utter neglect continued the species – part of world heritage - will be lost for ever.
Dr Asmat, who had asked IUCN to classify the species as EW, however, said the turtles can be bred commercially if the authorities were interested.
Aliur Rahman, general secretary of Bangladesh Environment Forum, said the government should take steps to preserve the rare species as part of the world heritage.