THE IMPERILED LEATHERBACK GIANTS

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August 07, 2006 14:48 PM

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*Leatherback Turtle Declines In Number*

 

**

 

*By D. Arul Rajoo*

 

BANGKOK, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The endangered leatherback turtle population is

effectively extinct in Malaysia and has deprived the country one of its most

charismatic tourist lures, says a United Nations Environment Programme

report.

 

Shedding light on the plight of the turtle species in the Indian Ocean and

Southeast Asian region, it says Malaysia offers one of the most dramatic,

best-documented examples of decline in the nesting population of marine

turtles.

 

" Leatherback turtles nest along the Terengganu coastline used to number in

the thousands in the 1960s, but in recent years only a handful of infertile

nests have been laid, " it says in the 166-page report prepared for the

memorandum of understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine

Turtles of the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

 

The report raises concern that these pre-historic creatures of the sea,

which can grow up to 700kg or more, are in the decline.

 

The report says the main threats to leatherback turtles include mortality in

fisheries, human egg harvest, depredation of eggs by pigs and dogs, and loss

of critical habitats, especially beaches needed for nesting.

 

On the impact of the December 2004 tsunami on marine turtles and their

habitats, an accompanying report says the tsunami had caused localised

damage to turtle habitats in eleven countries.

 

India, Thailand and Sri Lanka were the worst affected, with some nesting

beaches completely destroyed.

 

Marine turtle conservation projects in these countries also suffered

significant damage from the tsunami, including the loss of lives of

conservation staff.

 

The report also confirms that there are four main areas within the wider

Indian Ocean region where these gentle animals still come ashore to nest.

 

In South Africa, thanks to decades of persistent conservation efforts, the

number of female turtles nesting each year on a key stretch of beach grew

from just 10-20 in the 1960s to 100 in the 1990s but over the past four

years, it declined to 20-40 animals.

 

" It's far too soon to say whether this is a long-term downward trend or

simply a natural fluctuation in the population size.

 

" But the turtles don't appear to have moved elsewhere as the number of

leatherbacks in neighbouring Mozambique hasn't increased, " says Dr George

Hughes, one of the report's authors.

 

The United Nations Environment Programme says the remote Andaman and Nicobar

Islands of India were thought to harbour as many as 400-600 nesting turtles

but the tsunami that struck the islands during the peak nesting season had

seriously disrupted turtle nesting that year.

 

The situation in the Western Pacific nesting beaches seems brighter as a

recent survey data suggests there are perhaps 1,000 nesting females in a

population that is shared by West Papua -- Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and

the Solomon Islands.

 

-- BERNAMA