Assam: Along Kaziranga’s Brahmaputra, Turtles Are Still Holding On

Every winter, the Brahmaputra pulls back just enough to show what it’s been carrying all year — sandbanks, quiet channels, and life that most people never stop to look for. This January, as boats moved along a 174-kilometre stretch of the river cutting through Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, researchers were looking for signs that some of that life was still holding on.

What they found was quietly encouraging!

A joint survey by Kaziranga authorities and the India Turtle Conservation Programme (ITCP) recorded 945 freshwater turtles belonging to seven species during a rapid boat survey conducted between January 14 and 18, 2026. Most were hardshell turtles — 876 of them — with another 69 softshell turtles sighted along the river.

There were moments when the river revealed more than expected. Fifty-five direct sightings were of hardshell turtles from the Pangshuragenus, often seen basking briefly before slipping back into the water. Thirteen softshell turtles were also recorded, documented carefully with photographs. Among them were four Black Softshell Turtles (Nilssonia nigricans), a species listed as critically endangered and found only in the Brahmaputra basin.

For conservationists, those four sightings matter.

The Black Softshell Turtle has been disappearing quietly for decades, pushed to the edge by habitat loss, predators and human pressure. Its presence in the Kaziranga stretch of the river is a reminder that the Brahmaputra, despite everything, still shelters fragile species — if given the chance.

The survey team also found traces of what the eye could not immediately see. On exposed sandbanks, six nesting tracks of Pangshura turtles were identified through nail marks and trails, signs that breeding is still happening along the river’s shifting edges.

The Brahmaputra is often spoken of in superlatives — powerful, dangerous, unpredictable. Ecologically, it is also one of the richest freshwater systems in the region, recognised globally as a biodiversity hotspot and a priority river for turtle conservation. Within the Kaziranga landscape alone, 17 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises are found, more than half of all the species recorded in India.

Some of the most hopeful work, however, is happening away from the main river channel.

At Nagshankar Temple in Biswanath district, a pond inside the temple complex has become an unlikely refuge. Local residents, known as Kaso Mitras, have taken on the task of protecting turtles that lay eggs there. When nests are threatened by predators like mongooses, the eggs are collected, incubated, and the hatchlings cared for before being released.

Working with the Assam Forest Department and TSA Foundation India, the Biswanath Wildlife Division under Kaziranga has rewilded more than 600 turtles so far. In recent months alone, over 220 hatchlings were released into wetlands such as Sildubi and Roumari Beel — quiet places where young turtles have a better chance of surviving.

The survey looked beyond turtles as well. Researchers recorded 92 species of birds along the river stretch and confirmed the presence of smooth-coated otters and Gangetic river dolphins. Kaziranga’s familiar giants — the tiger, one-horned rhinoceros, elephant, swamp deer and wild water buffalo — were also seen using the riverine landscape.

Five areas were flagged as conservation priorities, based on the mix of species present, habitat condition and human disturbance.

Those involved in the study say the work cannot be one-off. The Brahmaputra changes every year — channels shift, sandbanks appear and disappear, and habitats are reshaped by floods. Annual surveys are the only way to understand what survives those changes and what doesn’t.

For now, the numbers suggest this much: beneath the wide, restless surface of the Brahmaputra, life is still adapting, still nesting, still surfacing — briefly — before slipping back into the river.

Also Read: Assam: Stranded Rhino Calf Rescued from Kaziranga’s Burapahar Range After 24-Hour Search