Guwahati, Aug. 23 -- The rescue and rehabilitation of an injured Tricarinate Hill Turtle from the Brahmaputra has drawn attention to the conservation concerns surrounding one of Assam's relatively little-known and threatened turtle species.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X on Sunday that an injured turtle had been rescued after being swept away by upstream floods. Following treatment, the animal was released back into a freshwater habitat.

The species, scientifically known as Melanochelys tricarinata, gets its name from the three distinct longitudinal ridges running along its dark, strongly domed shell. Despite being called a hill turtle, it is largely terrestrial and is found in moist deciduous and evergreen forests, ...