Softshell Turtle Surveys Conducted in India

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Student Shashwat Sirsi recently completed softshell turtle surveys in the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh , focusing on the endemic, poorly known and highly endangered Leith's softshell, Nilssonia leithi.  The surveys were funded by a seed grant from the TSA and completed with the support of TSA India and our partner, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. Read the Final Report here . These surveys represent preliminary work and Shashwat has been given a six-month contract to complete additional surveys for N . leithii and Pelochelys cantorii in south India in 2011 as a full-time Project Officer with the TSA-MCBT India Program.