(MY) saving terrapins

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Tuesday February 21, 2006 - The Star

 

Saving terrapins

 

By HILARY CHIEW

 

It was dark and rainy. And the river water was closing in on a river

terrapin nest by the banks of Sungai Dungun, Terengganu.

 

Dr Gerald Kuchling, a turtle expert from Australia, and villager Mohd

Rosli Hamzah, were desperately trying to locate the eggs in the

submerged nest. After struggling for an hour, the rescue operation was

abandoned and four eggs were sacrificed.

 

" I'm sorry. I cannot retrieve the rest, " said Kuchling dejectedly to

Prof Chan Eng Heng, co-leader of the Sungai Dungun River Terrapin

Conservation Programme.

 

Due to continuous rain for the past 24 hours, the water level of

Sungai Dungun has risen steadily and by 10pm on Feb 10, an area the

size of two football fields on the sandbank called Pasir Kumpal has

been inundated.

 

Nest Number 2, located on the outer edge of the riverbank, was the

first to be submerged and had to be rescued. Out of six eggs

successfully excavated, three were broken. The clutch of 10 eggs

deposited on Feb 1 was incubated in situ (in its original location) at

Pasir Kumpal.

 

The rescue operation was an unexpected turn of event for the team who

were there to revive the conservation project carried out by the

Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) between 1998

and 2001 on the highly endangered river terrapin (Batagur baska). Due

to cutbacks in funding, the project had lapsed for four years.

 

The field station was re-opened on Jan 26. Monitoring of turtle

nesting and egg protection were carried out by two Perhilitan rangers

and two hired villagers under the supervision of research assistant

Wong Yun Yun.

 

" We ended up literally saving the eggs from drowning. The flood was

totally unexpected as February is the tail-end of the monsoon and the

start of the nesting season, " said Chan,who set up the Turtle Research

and Rehabilitation Unit to conserve the species in 2004.

 

Collaborative effort

 

The Sungai Dungun programme is a collaboration between the unit of

Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia (Kustem) and Perhilitan.

 

The team also dug up another nest with six eggs. Both clutches of eggs

were re-buried on higher ground but when the water encroached further

inland the next morning, had to be removed again. The eggs, together

with those from two other nests, were transferred into pails and

stored in the female volunteers' dormitory.

 

The two researchers, two volunteers, The Star photographer and this

writer were evacuated at 7pm as the water level rose to 39.12m,

breaching the danger mark of 37.5m.

 

Chan suspended the conservation effort until the water subsided. She

returned to retrieve the eggs and field equipment two days later.

 

Nesting of the river terrapin has been sparse thus far. Rosli said

false crawls are common early in the two-month nesting season. It

appears that the terrapins are sensitive to human movements on the

sandbank.

 

The monitoring work at Pasir Kumpal is modelled after a marine turtle

conservation programme in Pulau Redang started by Chan in 1993.

 

" Unlike the green turtle which allows us to monitor them up-close, the

terrapins do not welcome any form of intrusion. There will trials and

errors before we can establish a standard field procedure for the

river terrapin, " she said.

 

The scientist hopes to document nesting frequencies and microchip

nesting females. These are vital information to revive the population

that has declined by half over the last 14 years.

 

Little scientific data is available on the terrapin, which is among

the world's 25 endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles. In

Malaysia, the river terrapin can be found in several major river

systems but decreased nesting has been reported from beaches monitored

by Perhilitan.

 

Perhilitan had established hatcheries in the late 1960s in Bota Kanan

(Sungai Perak), late 1970s in Bukit Pinang (Sungai Kedah and Sungai

Muda) and 1980s in Bukit Paloh (Sungai Terengganu and Sungai Dungun).

In Terengganu, two other known populations at Sungai Besut and Sungai

Setiu are not protected. Eggs were purchased from licensed

egg-collectors or collected from beaches gazetted as sanctuaries by

state governments.

 

For the Sungai Dungun population where there are 13 nesting beaches,

Perhilitan is protecting two major sites – Pasir Kumpal and Pasir Tok

Chu. The larger Pasir Kumpal is a gazetted sanctuary. Although Pasir

Tok Chu was left out, the locals have refrained from collecting the

eggs as Perhilitan ran an in situ station there between 1998 and 2001.

 

Recovery programme

 

Prior to 1998, Perhilitan's efforts were focused on ex-situ (off-site

conservation) egg incubation, head starting and release of

captive-bred animals.

 

Between 1980 and 1999, it released 3,676 terrapins but this has not

helped recover the population.

 

Research by Chan and her research students in 2004 and 2005 yielded a

population estimate of 76 individuals. " This cannot be considered a

healthy population size. Protecting the premier nesting ground of

Pasir Kumpal is crucial to saving this population. Half of the

incubated eggs will be released upon emergence and the remaining will

be head-started for a staggered release programme, " explained Chan of

her strategies for Sungai Dungun.

 

While widespread egg-consumption is a major threat to the terrapins'

survival, incidental capture in fishing gears resulting in drowning of

the reptile is no less detrimental. Rosli has observed the deaths of

three adult females since January.

 

Chan said the negative impact of fishing on the terrapin needed to be

assessed and destructive methods replaced with terrapin-friendly

fishing gears.

 

" Further ground observation in Dungun will help us to determine the

home range and foraging areas of the terrapins. Although Pasir Kumpal

is said to be the premier nesting site, we will investigate the other

beaches too, " she said.

 

Chan said the Sungai Dungun population is the most promising of the

two rivers that she has studied. Sampling in Sungai Setiu indicated

that the population is almost depleted. She initiated a recovery

programme for Sungai Setiu in 2004, by purchasing eggs from villagers

for ex-situ incubation at the Kustem campus.

 

The effort rescued 646 eggs from human consumption in the last two

years. One hundred year-old terrapins were released at Sungai Setiu

last Aug 31, dubbed Terrapin Independence Day, which is set to become

an annual event.

 

Aware that she is racing against time to save the river terrapin, Chan

hopes that with the co-operation of the authorities, the Sungai Dungun

programme will be replicated at other rivers in Terengganu and other

states.