Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

Olive ridley turtles are travelling farther than previously known. Early tracking data from tagged turtles in Tamil Nadu shows that some have already reached the Sri Lanka Dome, a little-known region in the Indian Ocean. Turtles from Odisha are also expected to arrive in the same waters, pointing to a shared ocean hotspot.

The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley, is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles. Found in warm tropical waters across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, they are named for their olive-green shell or carapace. Olive ridleys use both coastal waters and the open ocean, travelling long distances in search of food. They feed on jellyfish, shrimp, snails, crabs and fish eggs.

In India, Odisha’s Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, and the mouths of the Devi river are the primary nesting grounds. In 2025, over 650,000 olive ridley turtles arrived at Rushikulya for a synchronised mass nesting event, where thousands of female turtles come ashore simultaneously to lay eggs.

Despite their numbers, olive ridleys are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, with continuing decline of mature individuals. In India, they are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which offers the highest level of legal protection.

Survival remains a challenge. Only one in 1,000 hatchlings reaches adulthood, with the rest falling prey to predators. Olive ridleys face growing threats from fishing bycatch, ghost gear, coastal development, plastic pollution and climate change.

In a recent story that Mongabay-India published in April 2026, Chandana Pusapati, a Ph.D. scholar, who previously studied turtles, said, “Increasing plastic pollution at nesting beaches and foraging areas is an emerging threat, especially for females and hatchlings. Olive ridleys also prefer nesting near river-mouths, where plastic and other land-based waste often accumulate.”

Read more about the importance of local participation in conservation and how mass deaths of olive ridleys on Chennai’s coast call for action.

Banner image: An adult olive ridley turtle. Image by Jonathan Reynaga via Pexels.

The Union Cabinet has approved a two-year scheme that incentivises truck and bus owners in the National Capital Region to turn electric or upgrade to BS-VI compliant vehicles. BS-VI is the latest emissions standard which includes stricter curbs on pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide.

The government approved the scheme on June 3, saying it was “aimed at reducing air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region and promoting cleaner mobility.” Emissions from transport have long been shown to be the biggest year-round contributors to air pollution in NCR — up to 30% by some estimates. Trucks and buses were found to account for 36% of vehicular PM 2.5 emissions, despite being only 3% of the total fleet, according to a 2018 study by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

The BS-VI standards include reductions between 25% and 80% in tailpipe emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and hydrocarbons for petrol and diesel vehicles compared to BS-IV norms. Owners of BS-III vehicles will have to mandatorily scrap the vehicles, while owners of BS-IV vehicles have the option of scrapping or selling them in non-polluted areas outside NCR. Owners will then have to purchase either electric vehicles or BS-VI compliant ones.

To motivate owners, the government has offered a 5% interest subsidy on loans for five years, monthly fuel vouchers worth up to ₹4,800, and lump‑sum benefits for EV purchases, depending on the vehicle category. States will also waive registration fees and offer 100% motor vehicle tax concessions for new vehicles, and 50% for older ones used up to 10 years. Other benefits include discounts of 8% on ex‑showroom prices.

“The benefits by the central government will continue for five years from the date of registration of the new vehicle, ensuring sustained impact beyond the two‑year enrolment window,” the government said.

The scheme is likely to benefit 1.91 lakh truck and 16,329 bus owners operating in the NCR region, which includes Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme was approved with financial outlay of ₹9,585 crores, including ₹5,041 crores from the central government and an estimated ₹1,601 crores in tax concessions from the participating states. Government vehicles are excluded from the scheme.

Banner image: A truck transporting goods in Uttar Pradesh. Representative image by Shantum Singh via Pexels.

A recent study has found that air pollution exposure could impair foetal growth, with a potential to cause neurological defects. The study, from the All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, sheds light on the molecular pathways through which pollution disrupts early child development, and reinforces existing evidence of the wide-ranging health impacts of air pollution.

Exposure to PM2.5 particles are known to cause respiratory disease, worsen hypertension and diabetes, and exacerbate cardiovascular illnesses. Emerging evidence has suggested that prolonged exposure to air pollution can cause low birthweight, stillbirth, and preterm births. The AIIMS study, however, demonstrates how air pollution disrupts cellular activity to curb healthy foetal development.

“The missing link we presented in this research was how air pollution causes the reduction in a protein that’s very important for foetal development,” explained Dr. Subhradip Karmakar, an author of the study and a professor of biochemistry at AIIMS.

In pregnant mothers, inhaling ultrafine, PM2.5 and PM10 particles can cause oxidative stress which triggers an inflammatory response that activates cytokines – proteins which act on immune threats. This surge in inflammatory response can pass through the placenta, as do ultrafine particles and environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, which cause a reduction in the IGFBP3 protein, a critical regulator of cell growth, in foetuses. “This isn’t the only significant protein for foetal development. There might be other significant proteins that are also affected,” said Karmakar.

The study observed this mechanism in pregnant rats exposed to air pollution, and tracked postnatal neurodevelopment in pups. According to the study, rat pups exposed to air pollution experienced “persistent postnatal deficits in motor coordination, cognitive processing, and emotional regulation, consistent with neurobehavioral disruption and sex-specific vulnerability induced by in utero particulate exposure.”

The observations in the experiment were correlated with pregnancy outcomes among women from highly exposed climates. Delivery data from hospitals in New Delhi, where women were exposed to higher ambient PM2.5 levels, were associated with more low-birth-weight babies and more preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication, compared to women from lower-exposure settings in Deoghar, Jharkhand.

“The next phase of this study is to track the IGFBP3 protein as a biomarker in human pregnancies, which would give us greater insight into how air pollution causes developmental defects,” said Karmakar.

Banner image: A November 2017 photo of a woman carrying an infant outside a shop selling air purifiers at a market place in New Delhi. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

Over the last few years, dholes are slowly returning to several landscapes from which they had virtually disappeared — most recently in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha. The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is one of India’s most adaptable apex predators — and one of its least known. Also called the Asiatic wild dog, this social canid is recognised by its reddish-brown coat, bushy black-tipped tail, and distinctive high-pitched whistles. Living in packs of two to 24 individuals, it hunts cooperatively, taking down prey such as sambar, chital, and gaur, all several times its own size.

Once found in the alpine, temperate, tropical, and subtropical forests across Asia, the dhole, or Asiatic wild dog, has now disappeared from much of its former range. Currently, it is confined to central and eastern Asia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

In India, key populations are found in the Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India, with smaller populations in the Eastern Ghats and the Western Himalayas of Uttarakhand.

With only an estimated 4,500-10,500 individuals remaining worldwide, the species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. It is also a Schedule II species in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits hunting or trade.

As a predator that requires connected, healthy forested areas, the dhole faces significant pressure from fragmented and shrinking forests, prey depletion, conflict with humans and livestock, and the risk of disease transmission from domestic dogs.

In a story that Mongabay-India published in 2019, Arjun Srivathsa, Wildlife Conservation Society-India and the University of Florida, said, “Dholes are among the most threatened yet under-studied species in India and across the world. They are apex predators with fascinating social lives, and quite unique in that they are among the very few carnivores that are both forest-dependent and group-living.”

Read more about dholes in our stories on habitat suitability study across Asia, how agroforests support dhole populations in the Western Ghats, and the use of genetic methods to estimate population sizes.

Banner image: The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is one of India’s most adaptable apex predators. Image by David V. Raju via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Early last week, eight Asiatic lions, including cubs, died from a potential infection by the Babesia parasite, while 17 others thought to be exposed are being treated by the state forest and veterinary departments. The disease spreads through infected tick bites and causes weakness, anaemia, and lethargy. The deaths occurred within a 10-kilometre radius of the affected areas in Gir Somnath and Amreli districts in Gujarat.

On May 31, Gujarat’s Forest Minister, Arjun Modhwadia said, while speaking to the press, that no new lion deaths were reported after May 28 and that the 17 other lions were in isolation. So far, 500 lions have been dewormed and de-ticked to prevent further infection, the Minister said to the press. Blood samples of the affected lions are being tested at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre.

This isn’t the first outbreak in Gir. In 2018, a combination of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) and Babesiosis — the disease resulting from an infection by the Babesia parasite — killed 11 lions. Babesia is a protozoan parasite that operates similar to Plasmodium parasite which causes malaria. The parasite enters the bloodstream and destroys red blood cells.

The Babesia parasite is prevalent in both wild ungulates and domesticated livestock, such as cows and buffalos. Despite being carriers, the infection doesn’t necessarily produce symptoms or mortality in carriers. Lion cubs, however, are especially at risk of mortality.

While officials have told the press that the situation is under control, the outbreak has renewed focus on the importance of diversifying the Asiatic lion’s habitat in India. The country’s entire population of lions resides in Gujarat.

According to the latest lion census by the Gujarat forest department, the state is home to 891 lions. The population rose by nearly 30% between 2020 and 2025, with a majority of lions found to be straying from the core protected area into mixed landscape habitats, where they interact with humans and livestock.

A concentrated population of lions in one place increases their exposure and vulnerability to disease, several experts have said. This risk can be mitigated by establishing smaller populations in other habitable regions. In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the translocation of Asiatic lions to Kuno, in Madhya Pradesh, but this is yet to be done.

Mongabay-India made calls and sent texts to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Jaipal Singh requesting a status update on the infection, but did not receive a response.

Banner image: A lion cub in Gir. Image by Anushree Potdar via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

India has released its first ever report on the Nagoya Protocol earlier this year, a mechanism that tracks the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of traditional knowledge and biological resources.

India submitted the report on February 27, to the Convention on Biological Diversity which governs the Nagoya Protocol where India has been a signatory since 1992. The Nagoya Protocol makes it mandatory for member states to create legal frameworks for access and benefit sharing (ABS) from biological resources, which are shared with provider countries and local communities after use. India’s ABS framework has been in place since 2014, and was revised in 2025.

Between 2017 and 2025, 12,830 approvals were granted under the ABS framework, the report says. The National Biodiversity Authority granted 5,913 approvals for activities such as research, bio survey and bio-utilisation, commercial utilisation, transfer of research results, intellectual property rights (IPR), and third party transfers. An additional 6,917 approvals were granted by state and union territory biodiversity boards for commercial utilisation by Indian entities.

Commercial users — like pharmaceutical companies and research establishments — are obligated to pay a share of revenue or turnover towards meeting ABS obligations. Through ABS, the National Biodiversity Authority collected a total of ₹216.31 crores, of which ₹139.69 crores were disbursed to benefit claimers.

The report also illustrates examples of ABS in India, calling itself “a global front-runner in turning the idea of Access and Benefit Sharing into practical reality.” For example, in Dapur a village in Maharashtra, microbes in the soil were found to have “significant probiotic potential” and were accessed by Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited, a research company. A benefit sharing agreement was drawn, obligating Advanced Enzyme Technologies to pay a share of 0.5% of the annual gross ex-factory sale price for products sold which were derived from the use of bioresources. The agreement raised ₹71 lakhs in benefits. “This highlights that effective ABS implementation requires clear traceability of bioresources and a direct linkage between utilisation and benefit- sharing obligations,” the report says.

The report comes after India made significant changes to its ABS framework in 2025 to improve the ease of doing business. A part of these changes was to exclude companies earning a turnover of less than ₹5 crores from ABS obligations, and to exclude custodians of “codified traditional knowledge” from claiming benefits. Codified knowledge refers to knowledge documented in specific books listed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

The national report also acknowledges challenges in compiling ABS data. “These include the need to strengthen digital systems for improved monitoring and data integration, to develop appropriate methodologies for valuation of biological resources and to enhance capacity at state and local levels,” the report points out.

Banner image: Tendu leaves being dried after harvest. Representative image by Subodhkiran via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).