Bernama 19 Dec 11;
KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- The Turtle Conservation and Information Centre in Rantau Abang, Dungun was visited by about 12,830 people between January and November this year.
Terengganu Fisheries Department director Zakaria Ismail when contacted said that out of this number of visitors, 11,799 were Malaysians.
He said to make the trip more attractive, visitors could spend the night in Kerteh, Kemaman, watching turtles lay eggs at the turtle hatching centre.
He added that Terengganu had 11 turtle hatching centres in an effort to maintain the turtle population in order to prevent it from becoming extinct due to the many threats facing the reptile.
These hatcheries are managed by various parties including the Fisheries Department, non-governmental organisations and the World Wildlife Fund.
Zakaria said the department obtained turtle eggs for hatching from government reserves or from authorised collectors.
He said this year, the department incubated nearly 94,000 turtle eggs, mostly from the green turtle species, with over 66,000 of them hatched.
The hatchling were then released to the sea, he added.
-- BERNAMA
