Nesting Turtle Found Slaughtered in East Kalimantan, All Eggs Stolen

A female turtle about to lay her eggs was found dead with its underside slashed open on the coast of Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. All the eggs still inside the turtle’s body were missing. The turtle carcass was discovered by a community monitoring group (pokmaswas) during a routine patrol at a turtle landing site on the coast of Balikukup Village, Batu Putih District, on Sunday (2/8/2026). “Our pokmaswas colleagues were conducting monitoring along Balikukup beach. At that time, they found a dead turtle with a slash wound on the lower left side of its body, causing its intestines to spill out,” said Didik Riyanto, Head of the UPTD for Coastal and Small Islands Conservation Area Management (KKP3K) KDPS Berau, as reported by detikKalimantan on Wednesday (5/8/2026). Initial examination suggests the wound was deliberately inflicted to extract the eggs still inside the mother turtle’s body. When the turtle was found, no eggs remained. “The indication is that the turtle, which was about to lay eggs, was forced to have its eggs taken by slashing open the underside of its body. The eggs were completely gone,” he explained. Didik estimated that the turtle, measuring approximately 110 centimetres in length and 91 centimetres in width, was carrying 80 to 100 eggs. All the eggs are suspected to have been taken by the perpetrator in a short time. “For a turtle of that size, it usually carries around 80 to 100 eggs. The perpetrator likely worked quickly for fear of being caught, so all the eggs were successfully taken,” he clarified. The UPTD KKP3K KDPS Berau immediately coordinated with several agencies, including PSDKP Tarakan, PSDKP East Kalimantan, the East Kalimantan Police’s Directorate of Water and Air Police, and conservation organisations to follow up on the case. Surveillance patrols in the conservation area will also be intensified in the near future. “We immediately held a coordination meeting. At a minimum, we will conduct patrols twice a month to sweep areas prone to turtle egg theft and the hunting of protected marine species,” he stated.