Silver lining around the cloud: Young ones leaving the tradition of turtle exploitation in buffer zone of Chitwan National Park

Freshwater turtles and tortoise are one of the oldest yet most threatened groups among the vertebrates. Exploitation from their natural habitats for consumption as food and medicine, pet and trade are some of the threats experienced by turtles. Protected areas are supposed to provide some degree of protection to these groups, however, the conservation status and role of buffer zone, a protected area of level VI category according to IUCN Category of Protected Areas is poorly known. Thus, the study was conducted with the aim of fulfilling the void in knowledge about the conservation status of turtles in the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park. Prior to the field, standard questionnaire related to the distribution, exploitation and conservation of turtles were prepared which was employed in household survey conducted in 99 households. The data thus collected were managed in Microsoft Excel and was analyzed by using descriptive statistics followed by inferential statistics. Data analysis was done using R software. In the study area, elongated tortoise was the most common species that were reported by respondents to observe, while tricariante hill turtle was commonly used turtle. Consumption as meat was the most dominant cause of exploitation and exploitation was significantly associated with family collecting turtle, perception about population trend of turtle and knowledge on threatened status of turtles. Furthermore, exploitation tendency was correlated with age and involvement of family member in turtle exploitation.