Why in news? 

The staff of Amaravati Boating Club (ABC), a private firm that organises leisure water sports at Bhavani Island in the Krishna River spotted a red-eared slider in the jetty area.

Highlights:

• A native to northern Mexico, it is listed among the 100 most invasive species in the world
• They brought out of the water the exotic species of tortoise with red stripes around its ears.
• The WWF experts described red-eared slider as the most invasive turtle. It can have negative impacts on the ecosystems to which they are not native. The species have certain advantages over the nat1ive populations such as lower age of maturity, higher fecundity rates and larger body size, which gives them a competitive advantage at basking and nesting sites. They exploit the food resources in an ecosystem.
• The most worrying part is that the species also transmit diseases and displace the other turtle species with which they compete for food and breeding space,
• Native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico, this species has spread to many regions, including India and at some places, even outcompeting the native species.

• The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world’s 100 most invasive species.