The Star 23 Feb 16;
KOTA KINABALU: The first mother turtle has been tagged at Libaran Island off Sandakan by a non-governmental organisation - Foster (Friends Of Sea Turtles Education & Research) on Sunday.
Foster president Alexander Yee said they have been working closely with the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) on a turtle hatchery for the past three years.
“The turtle landings on the island have seen a marked increase and we have released over 30,000 baby turtles from this hatchery”, he said.
Yee said the department has suggested the move to tag the turtles and it is a significant milestone for this programme.
He said the taggings allowed researchers to monitor the movement of turtles.
University Malaysia Sabah lecturer and researcher Dr. James Alhin, who is also adviser to Foster, said the tagging was important for them to be able to carry out scientific work.
“The tag marks the turtle and allows us to identify her when she visits other shores or returns to Libaran”, he said.
In the event, a green turtle weighing about 180kg came ashore and laid 74 eggs on the beach.
It was only after she laid her eggs that the researchers measured and tagged her before releasing her back to the sea.
Turtle's conservation gets cracking after tagging turtle which laid 74 eggs
AWANG ALI OMAR New Straits Times 22 Feb 16;
SANDAKAN: A non-governmental organisation (NGO) has embarked on new milestone in conservation efforts by tagging their first turtle at Libaran island here yesterday.
Friends of Sea Turtles Education and Research (FOSTER) measured and tagged the 180-kg Green turtle after it laid 74 eggs on the beach.
Its president Alexander Yee said FOSTER had been working with Sabah Wildlife Department to operate the turtle hatchery for the past three years.
“Turtle landings on the island have seen a remarkable increase and we have released more than 30,000 baby turtles from this hatchery.
"These (moves) are being done in response to a call by the Sabah Wildlife Department to work together to solve illegal turtle poaching on the island as reported by one of the villagers,” he said in a statement, adding the department had also provided FOSTER with the tags.
Present was University Malaysia Sabah researcher Dr James Alhin, who is also FOSTER advisor to witness the tagging process.
He said the tagging would be useful to track turtles movement to be used in scientific works.
