Male leatherback turtles facing extinction

The Star 18 Apr 09;

KERTIH: The threat of leatherback turtles becoming extinct is getting more serious with no male turtle to incubate some 200 leatherback turtle eggs buried for hatching at the Rantau Abang Turtle Sanctuary.

Terengganu Fisheries director Munir Mohd Nawi said the leatherback turtle eggs could not hatch because they needed to be incubated by the male turtles first.

This was despite the landings by leatherback turtles at Rantau Abang, Dungun, on June 12 and 23 last year, he told reporters at a gotong-royong function at the Ma'Daerah Sanctuary Center here Saturday.

The programme, conducted with the cooperation of the BP Petronas Acetyls and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), involved the participation of 800 local residents and students.

On turtle landings recorded during the first three months of this year, Munir said there was an increase of five to 10 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

He said between 36,000 and 40,000 turtle eggs were laid in the state late year and most of them were laid by the green turtles.

Meanwhile, head of the WWF Terengganu Turtle programme, Rahayu Zulkifli, said WWF would launch a "Don't Eat Turtle Eggs" campaign to save the turtles from extinction. - Bernama