Red-eared Turtle

Also known as Red eared slider, the red-eared turtle originally belongs to Mississippi valley, North America. They are one of the most dangerous invasive species.

It is the latest favourite of pet lovers, especially children, because of its small size and colour.
But it grows quickly and once of bigger size it is left in nearby water bodies.
Red-eared sliders are well-poised to be effective invaders. They reach sexual maturity at a young age and have high fecundity (the ability to produce an abundance of offspring).
Red-eared sliders, being omnivorous, compete with native turtle species for food, habitat, and other resources.
These turtles can get quite large (10-12”) and are notoriously aggressive, and can bully native turtles out of basking sites, a critical resource for these reptiles. Reduced access to these sites can slow growth and increase mortality of native turtles.

Recently, a red-eared slider has been found in Thrissur, Kerala.
Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) has been working with the locals to remove this invasive species as it may become harmful to local turtle populations.
It is also working on discouraging pet shops from selling the species and instructing pet owners not to release them to the wild.

An invasive species can be any kind of living organism—an amphibian, plant, insect, fish, fungus, or bacteria—that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm.
Not all non-native species are invasive. For example, most of the food crops grown in India, including onion, potato and tomatoes are not native to the region.
To be invasive,
- a species must adapt to the new area easily
- it must reproduce quickly
- it must harm the economy, or the native plants and animals of the region
Some of the most serious invasive species in India are Alternanthera philoxeroides, Cassia uniflora, Chromolaena odorata, Eichhornia crassipes, Lantana camara, Parthenium hysterophorus and Prosopis juliflora, etc.

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