Six tortoise, eight blue bulls found dead in forests of Amreli

Six tortoises were found dead in a pond near the Gayatri temple compound in Rajula taluka of the district, forest department official said Saturday.

Six tortoises were found dead in a pond near the Gayatri temple compound in Rajula taluka of the district, forest department official said Saturday.

HT Image

Caracasses of five and three blue bulls were also found from the fields in Liliya and Rajula taluka respectively in Amreli on Saturday, they added.

"The tortoise which died today are schedule four species, and are usually found in sweet water habitats," Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) holding charge of Amreli district J P Vasava said.

"We found it was natural death for the tortoise," he said.

"The blue bulls here have died possibly after consuming urea sprinkled in the fields, which is used as a fertiliser for the crops," he said

"The cracass of five blue bulls were found in Liliya taluka near Kankraj village, while three were found from fields in Rajula taluka," he said.

Blue bulls are schedule-III species, and the animal population is estimated to be over 1,000 in and around the site of incident, DCF further said.

Eleven black bucks were also found dead in Visavadar of Junagadh near Gir forest on last Tuesday.