An Olive Ridley turtle has been given a new lease of life after Indian officials gave it a prosthetic flipper.

The male turtle was found stuck in a fishing net in late September, off the Vengurla coastline of Western India. The sharp strings of the net had sliced off most of its front flipper and damaged a hind flipper as well.

A local resident rescued the seriously injured turtle and handed it over to Maharashtra forestry department officials, who placed it in the care of Dr Santosh Walvekar in Kolhapur.

When the turtle recovered, Dr Walvekar started thinking about developing a prosthetic limbs for it.

"We were worried about its condition as its front left flipper wasn’t there and right hind flipper was badly injured," he said.

Dr Walvekar gathered a team, including architect Chandrakant Halyal, and a month later they had designed a 270g (9.5oz) 33cm (13 inch) prosthetic flipper made of silicone. It comes with two steel plates that help the turtle move its flipper while swimming.

On October 27, the team placed the turtle in a large tank and it was able to swim and stay afloat.

The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), an international non-profit organisation working on turtle conservation, said this was the first successful prosthetic flipper to be fitted on a turtle in India.

TSA India is supporting the team with inputs from its experts in South Carolina, USA, for the further rehabilitation of the turtle.

Indian officials have given a new lease of life to an Olive Ridley turtle, which had its flipper cut off, in an accident in the sea.

The 12-year-old month male turtle was found stuck in the fishing net in late September at the Vengurla coastline in Western India. The sharp strings of the net had dragged the turtle slicing off most of its front flipper and damaged a hind flipper as well.

A local resident rescued the seriously injured turtle and handed it over to the Maharashtra forest department officials, who placed it under the care of Dr Santosh Walvekar in Kolhapur.

As the turtle remarkably recovered, Dr Walvekar started thinking about developing prosthetic limbs to rehabilitate it.

" We were worried about its condition as its front left flipper wasn’t there and right hind flipper was badly injured,” he said

Dr Walvekar gathered a team and began researching on a prosthetic flipper, which had to be built from the scratch. A noted architect, Chandrakant Halyal, drew up measurements of the prosthetic flipper based on a mirror image of its existing flipper.

After a month-long effort, the team designed a 270 gram and 13-inch prosthetic flipper, which could be non-surgically fitted to the severed stump of the turtle. The prosthetic limb is made of silicone and comes with two steel plates that help the turtle move its flipper while swimming.

On October 27, the team placed the turtle in a large tank and it was able to swim and stay afloat.

Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), an international non-profit organisation working on turtle conservation, said this was the first such successful prosthetic flipper fitted on a turtle in India.

TSA India is supporting the team with inputs from its experts in South Carolina for the further rehabilitation of the turtle.
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Video credit - Chandrakant Halyal