Reproductive Ecology and Conservation of

Indian River Turtles
and Gharials in the Chambal River Sanctuary

Dr. Brian Horne, a Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow with the San Diego Zoo, is focusing his research on preventing the extinction of one of Asia’s most endangered turtles, the red-crowned roof turtle of the Ganges River basin. This turtle is critically endangered and fewer than 400 adult females may remain in its last stronghold, the National Chambal River Sanctuary in northern India.

Branching out from turtles, Dr. Horne is also studying the conservation biology of the critically endangered Indian gharial, a slender-snouted crocodilian. The conservation actions needed for this species mirrors the actions needed to protect the red-crowned roof turtles. Thus, it was a logical decision to collaborate with CRES Scientist Dr. Matt Milnes and the Zoo's urator of herpetology, Don Boyer, on how best to increase the populations of both the t urtles and the gharials.

Current conservation measures include moving nests to protected hatcheries to reduce the number of nests destroyed by predators. Additionally, some of the hatchlings are placed into “headstarting” programs, where hatchlings are raised in nurseries until they reach a size that grants them greater survivorship upon release. Dr. Horne will then monitor the dispersal, annual migration, and survivorship of the released animals via sonic and satellite telemetry. In addition, he will study how egg incubation temperatures determine the sex of the hatchling turtles and gharials as well as working with Indian biologists to optimize incubation conditions at the hatcheries to ensure both sexes are being produced. This will help maximize genetic diversity of the small populations.