Bangladesh’s Forest Department rescued and released an olive ridley sea turtle that had become stranded on a new sandbar in Magdhara Union beside the Sandwip Channel in Chattogram. The turtle was released into the channel at 7 pm on Saturday after a video circulated on social media. Forest officials and the upazila administration acted following instructions from Upazila Nirbahi Officer Amzad Hossain.

Local resident Mizan found the large turtle on land on Friday morning while taking cattle to the sandbar. Fearing it could die without water, he moved it to a water-filled pit inside a nearby keora forest. Another resident, Nuruzzaman, recorded and shared a video calling for the animal to be returned quickly to the sea.

Sandwip Range Officer Nizam Uddin said the department took immediate action after receiving the information. Experts identified the animal as an olive ridley, listed globally as endangered by the IUCN. Professor Mohammad Moslem Uddin said the species may weigh 50 to 100 kilograms. The local administration praised residents for helping save the turtle.