Police seized an Indian softshell turtle, weighing around 23kg, from a Dhaka-bound bus in Natore town Thursday. The narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra indica) also known as small-headed softshell turtle is an endangered species of softshell turtle found in rivers of the Indian subcontinent. Acting on a tip-off, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police conducted a raid on a bus in the Banbelghoria Bypass area, Abu Sadad, officer-in-charge of Natore DB, said. Wrapped in polythene, the turtle was supposed to be sent to Dhaka's Savar, he added. "However, police could not arrest anyone for smuggling the turtle." Read: Endangered Ganges turtle rescued from Natore According to the guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list, the Indian softshell turtle is considered to be vulnerable because of multiple threats, particularly because of loss of habitation, poaching and trapping for illegal sale. The seized turtle was sent to the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division in Rajshahi, Sadad said.

A rare yellow flapshell turtle has been rescued from a canal in the Ambikapur area of Faridpur's Sadar upazila, forest officials have said. The turtle was spotted by a youth, named Riyad, a resident of Ambikapur village, on Sunday afternoon when he had been fishing in the canal in Biswas Dangi.  Read: Rare 'cheetah cat' found in Chandpur The turtle was subsequently caught in a fishing net and handed over to the Faridpur forest department. The reptile is currently kept in a reservoir of the forest department at Gangavardi in Faridpur Sadar. Faridpur Divisional Social Forest Officer Kabir Hossain Patwari said that the turtle is a unique and rare reptile. "It weighs about 1.5 kg and has a diameter of eight inches," he said on Tuesday. However, Ashikur Rahman Shomi, a student of zoology at Dhaka University, said that it's very much possible that the Sundhi turtle species -- matte and grey in colour -- may have turned yellow due to genetic changes. Read:Rare fishing cat captured in Chattogram village The Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department in Khulna has been informed. The next step will be taken as per their advice, said the forest officer.