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GU✨ “Our earth exists on top of a giant turtle.
Without turtles, we will cease to exist”
- Words from a priest in Assam who shared with us what turtles mean to him and his culture.
This World Turtle Day, meet the Black Softshell turtle —a bizarre-looking, rare almost 80kg giant turtle, locally known as Lao Mura. It’s the star of our upcoming feature documentary, Looking for Lao Mura.
Until recently, black softshell turtles were listed as Extinct in the wild and thought to exist only in temple ponds of Assam in India and Chittagong in Bangladesh. In 2002, the existence of wild living Black Softshells was confirmed in some National Parks of Assam, with anecdotal records across north-eastern states in India. Herpetologist @aninja_turtle, wildlife cameraman @pradeep_hegde and I put together a team and went on an expedition along the mighty Brahmaputra river to find the Lao Mura in the wild based on Anuja’s research and by following anecdotal clues from local communities that have always known about its wild presence. Along the way, we met fishermen, devotees, priests, forest guards, and local conservationists who offered authentic anecdotal wisdom and shared visual evidence about these rare turtles. They shared stories of a unique cultural bond and a connection that dates back to some of the oldest ancient Indian texts. In March 2021, while we were filming the Lao Mura, it was downlisted to Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
However, Black softshell turtles are yet to receive the protection and attention they deserve and we hope that we would be able to highlight the importance of such an incredible species through our film.
🎬 Looking for Lao Mura is produced by @beyondpremieres in collaboration with @fttfindia and supported by the National Geographic Society @insidenatgeo
@natgeoindia @saiyam_w @greenhub_india @sakshirao._ @arjunkamdar @zanuski @ojaantrik_jajabor @bottle_rockets_india @promodsaikia @tamara.law @goosetraveldiaries @bitupan_kolong @baruah.ritupan @bitupan8415 @poojaslaboratory @herpomania
#WorldTurtleDay #NationalGeographic #OnAssignment #natgeoindia
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