Well into the 21st century, the onslaught on our freshwater systems has only gotten worse and our march towards irreversible climate change more hurried, all in the name of development. This continued alteration and destruction of freshwater ecosystems could potentially bring about more novel concerns such as the resurgence of zoonotic or water-borne diseases. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of our human world. At the same time, it is teaching us valuable lessons about the vulnerability and resilience of our natural habitats. There has been much clamour over the nation’s snowballing water crisis in recent years, yet concerns about the degrading health of our freshwater habitats is still to reach a fever pitch. Safeguarding our freshwater ecosystems requires new approaches, dialogues and solutions through a network of experts, researchers, and citizens of this country. By focusing our research on threatened freshwater turtles and tortoises, we hope to sustain positive human-wildlife-habitat interactions and to improve the management of these freshwater habitats.

Freshwater turtles are currently one of the most endangered groups of vertebrate animals, with tough competition from primates. Out of the 356 species of turtles found worldwide, approximately 61 per cent are threatened or already extinct. Most people have never seen or encountered turtles in the wild but they aren’t as elusive as thought to be. They often live close to us and dwell in rivers, lakes, ponds and agricultural fields. Some unfortunate ones are even kept in wells and village ponds due to their scavenging nature or in temple ponds due to their sacred status in Hinduism. Freshwater turtles and terrapins, marine turtles and tortoises are collectively known as chelonians – reptiles characterised by a bony or cartilaginous shell. Multiple terms such as turtle, tortoise, terrapin can often be confusing. To break it down in a simple manner, these shelled animals can be easily categorised into two types – turtles and tortoises. While turtles can be aquatic or semi-aquatic, tortoises are always highly terrestrial.

Different types of science communications such as systematic or brief reviews, original research articles, letter-to-editor, commentaries, theoretical perspectives, survey observations are accepted by the journal. The journal also articulates theoretical perspectives and expert opinions on the current and emerging approaches, practices and management in poultry, fisheries and wildlife.

Please upload the manuscript here:

www.longdom.org/submissions/poultry-fisheries-wildlife-sciences.html