Rare leatherback turtles return to Malaysia

AFP 29 Jun 08;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — The endangered leatherback turtle has made a surprise return to nest in Malaysia where they were feared to have been wiped out, but experts are worried the precious eggs will not hatch.

After a no-show last year, the rare giant turtles have nested twice on the Rantau Abang beach in northern Terennganu state, on June 23 and 24.

"This is exciting for us and it has given us new hope in our conservation efforts," said Munir Mohamad Nawi, director of the state's fisheries department.

"We presume that (roughly) two more females will arrive to nest. Two years ago we had five nesting sites for these leatherbacks," he told AFP, adding that none of the eggs gathered then had produced baby leatherbacks.

Workers from the state's Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre hatchery have recovered just 41 eggs from the latest two nests, less than half what would be expected.

"This is unfortunate. At the first nest, there were no eggs at all and we were lucky to find the 41 eggs in the second one," said Munir.

He said it was likely the eggs had been poached by locals who sell them illegally in nearby markets. The sale of leatherback turtle eggs is banned in the state but those of other sea turtle species can be sold and consumed.

The leatherbacks are the largest of all sea turtles and have been around for the past 75 million years, surviving cycles of near-extinction.

In Terengganu, the only place in Malaysia were the leatherbacks nested, the turtles were once a star attraction but overfishing, poaching and pollution have been blamed for causing the population to plummet.

In the 1950s, up to 10,000 female turtles struggled up the beach to lay their eggs each year, but by 1984 the number had fallen to 800 and in 2006 only five nests were found from two turtles, without any hatchlings emerging.

"My only hope is that the eggs hatch. None of the eggs has hatched since 2000 because they were infertile," said Rahayu Zulkifli from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which runs a turtle conservation project in Terengganu.

"It is increasingly difficult to find male leatherbacks here so most of the eggs are not fertilised and they eventually do not hatch," she added.

Munir said Malaysian scientists were planning to use "advanced reproductive biotechnology" to fertilise this month's haul of leatherback eggs.

"For example, we have the technology to use the semen from the green turtles and try to fertilise the leatherback eggs. This is among the technology we will be trying out to produce hatchlings," he said.

Munir said that cloning was another method being studied in the biotechnology programme.

"But that will be the last resort to prevent the extinction of the species," he added.

Rahayu said the widespread sale of turtle eggs in the state was a contributor to the decline in the sea turtle population, and called for a ban on the sale of eggs of all sea turtle species.

Terengganu's beaches are also landing sites for the green turtles -- the second largest species after the leatherbacks -- the Olive Ridley turtle and the hawksbill, although sightings of the latter two are increasingly rare.