Navin the terrapin trapping fanatic!

My name is Navin Venkateswaralu, I’m 15 years old.I have been volunteering with MCSS at the banyan tree hotel for two weeks for my work experience.

Invasive removal in the wetlands

 Management of the wetlands is very important and we have an invasive removal task, where having spare clothes is a must! Water hyacinths needs to be controlled as they can very quickly cover a whole pond and block sunlight which can make the water unhealthy.

At the rehabilitation center I mostly work with terrapins. I learnt about the two types of terrapins that are in Seychelles, which are the yellow bellied and the black mud terrapin. I really enjoy taking part in the terrapin trapping program. We usually go trapping twice a day, to go out on the field and check twenty traps for terrapins, then we measure the ones that we captured and mark them. Afterwards we release it in the same place that it was captured. This helps us get a good overview of the population and movements of the terrapin. Sometimes we also get the little babies in the traps!