Seventy-two-year-old Namgaukum from India’s northeastern state of Nagaland cherishes rare childhood memories of riding a giant Asian tortoise (Monuria Amys Firei) through the forest near his old Jaluki village.
For five years at the time, the animal’s nearly two-foot-long carapace — the largest living turtle in mainland Asia — often resembled a gray-brown boulder in a forest about a foot high in leaf litter and undergrowth.
“I sat on it in the woods, and after a while I suddenly felt a stirring underneath,” he recalls. First a dark-brown head would emerge cautiously from the “boulder,” followed by a thick, muscular neck and stiff, webbed legs buried in the forest floor. “Then we would move slowly forward, its beak nibbling on grass and tender shoots,” he smiles, reminiscing about his childhood thrill of riding the giant forest reptile.
Village elders remember those days when tortoises were still plentiful in the jungle, and lament that they had almost disappeared by the age of 13 or 14.
However, six decades later, a young resident marvels at its “homecoming”. Critically Endangered The species in the same old Jaluki forest near his village – now a community reserve. “They are like our children now,” said 22-year-old Hailelungbe, proud to be recognized as a “turtle guardian”. Other youths and members of the Zeliang tribe are equally delighted at the revival of the wild species.
This recovery follows a landmark initiative under India’s Turtle Conservation Programme. Last August 10 the captive-bred juvenile Asian giant tortoises (each 5-6 years old) were reintroduced into a community-owned and managed reserve instead of the usual state-run protected area.
This program — implemented in collaboration with Nagaland Forest Department Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation India The Old Jaluki Community Reserve in Peren district aims to “rehabilitate the growing number of captive-bred individuals and save them from extinction through community stewardship,” says its director, Shailendra Singh.
The effort began in 2018 with captive-breeding facilities under the ITCP Nagaland Zoological Park. It was established with 13 wild-born individuals – seven females and six males – rescued from tribal families, where they were kept as pets and sold for meat from local markets. Today the facility hosts the world’s largest captive colony of Asian giant tortoises with 114 individuals.
“The program reached its turning point when some villagers voluntarily donated the turtles they kept as pets in their homes for captive breeding and the community that once exploited them became sensitive to bringing the species back from the fringes into the wild and rearing them,” says Singh.
After seven to eight months of release, all radio-tagged turtles were reported to be healthy and alive. Initially housed in a 10,000-square-foot bamboo enclosure at the community reserve for acclimatization, they were released into the wild on February 20 this year.
They now roam freely in the 370-hectare stretch of montane semi-evergreen forest of the Old Jaluki Reserve, which is densely vegetated with indigenous trees such as Indian chestnut, Nepali alder, karoi tree and various oak species. The biodiversity landscape has been owned and managed since the 1980s by local tribes from 15 surrounding villages, led by elders.
The species faced a dire situation two decades ago. Over the past 135 years, turtles have lost about 80% of their historic range across South and Southeast Asia due to habitat loss, poaching and the pet trade.
According to Shailendra Singh, director of TSAFI, around 250 mature individuals of the Asian giant tortoise may survive in the wild worldwide. Of the two recognized subspecies, Menorrhoea Amys Amys Exists in parts of Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo, while larger, darker M.E. fayrei Spread across Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and parts of northeastern India.
Singh said that between 2012 and 2026, only 20 adults were reported from the northeastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, although remote hilly areas and social conditions may have limited survey and detection capacity. He estimates that about 100-150 adults may survive in the area.
Villages in the region have traditionally hunted turtles for generations, so securing the support of local communities was critical to making the reintroduction program a success, notes Sushmita Kar, turtle biologist and project coordinator, ITCP Northeast India.
“The forest department has helped bring the local community on board, keep them motivated and take them along in this conservation journey,” says Chisai, Divisional Forest Officer, Peren (from the Indian Forest Service). He explained that the department works with communities at the grassroots through capacity building and livelihood opportunities, envisioning a future where Old Jaluki can be termed as a “turtle village” in the state.
“As key stakeholders, local communities become more responsible and accountable for conserving the species and the habitat as a whole,” he added.
Releasing the turtles into a community reserve rather than a conventional protected area was a prudent decision, Corr acknowledged. This approach follows lessons learned from the first phase of the giant tortoise reintroduction Intanki National Park In December 2022. Of the 10 captive-bred juveniles then released, only one was later found in the forest perimeter; Two were trampled by elephants, the fate of the rest is unknown.
Unlike national parks, community reserves do not restrict access to local villagers. To help make villages aware of the importance of the species, youth are trained in hands-on monitoring of turtles. “For a species where every individual counts, these young, with their almost ‘one-to-one engagement’ with everyone, develop a sense of familiarity and belonging, ensuring their long-term survival,” she says.
Also, during monsoons, when forest areas become difficult to access, these grassroots conservationists can still move through the terrain guided by their lived experience and traditional knowledge and remain vigilant.
Meanwhile, unlike most states in India where forests are largely under government control, approx 88% Forest areas in Nagaland are controlled and managed by local communities, groups and individuals through village councils and traditional institutions. According to official reports, the state has 407 community-protected areas Protected by customary law, as well 148 officially notified community reserves — Highest in the country and more than 50% of all such reserves nationally.
According to Jaluki Range Range Officer Kenlumtei, programs like the ITCP provide good examples of how community reserves can be effectively used to revive such endangered species. “It is also bringing about an attitudinal change among the youth of the community, who are gradually moving away from traditional hunting to protect forests and wildlife,” he added.
For young people like Haileulungbe and Iteichube from the Old Jaluki Conservation Reserve, this means their increased role and commitment as its custodians.
Wearing olive-green T-shirts emblazoned with “Turtle guardians,” Heilulungbe sets off for the forest at 8 a.m., when the reptiles are most active. He carries a radio receiver, while Victor, the project’s field researcher, carries an antenna attached to it. The pair scan for signals from their radio-tagged “giant baby” to pinpoint their location “Two turtles have already moved about 300-500 meters away from the enclosure,” he says excitedly as they walk me through the forest.
They are trained to maintain a daily record of each turtle’s GPS location, including monitoring their movements and behavior.
Apart from following signals on radio receivers, they look for nibble marks on leaves, shoots of their favorite bamboo, or mushrooms on the forest floor, or shallow depressions in wet meadows and water bodies, explains Etchub, 33, another turtle guardian. “All such signs enable us to identify their basking, foraging and resting sites,” he added.
With adults weighing around 36–37 kilograms (79–82 lb), they are often described as “little elephants of the forest” due to their thick, webbed feet that push through dense vegetation, a process that aids seed dispersal and forest regeneration.
They are among the few turtles in the world that have a unique nesting habit: nesting 2-3 feet above the ground with leaf litter and plant material to lay about 25-70 eggs per clutch. Most turtles, in contrast, make nests by digging holes in the ground.
Seeing their behavior motivates parents more. “We started by just tracking them, but today we understand how important they are to keeping our forests vibrant and alive in their unique ways,” said Iteichube.
Inspired by the recovery success of the Asian giant tortoise in Nagaland, similar efforts are now underway in neighboring Manipur. Initial results are already emerging: a captive-breeding facility has been established Manipur Zoological Garden 28 hatchlings were successfully produced by artificial incubation in August 2025.
As hatchlings grow, scientists are also conducting site assessments and tracking Asian giant tortoises in the wild to identify potential release sites for captive-bred individuals. “We aim to repopulate the forests of Manipur with giant tortoises, similar to Nagaland, and eventually across its historic range in Northeast India, through a community-based participatory approach,” says Carr.
Village elder Namgoukum could not be happier with the return of the turtles to their native forest.
“Earlier we used to hang its big, beautiful shells outside our houses to ward off evil and as a symbol of pride, but today we consider it a good omen and a blessing for our community to see it growing in the wild,” he says.
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This post was Previously published on THEREVELATOR.ORG and republished in Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock.com
