Rantau Abang's turtle population sharply decline

Rantau Abang's turtle population sharply decline

Hazlin Hassan, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Leatherback turtles are in danger of being lost forever from
Malaysia's famed Rantau Abang beach where thousands of the marine
reptiles previously came to lay their eggs.

Only three landings of leatherback turtles were detected
during the last nesting season between April and September last
year, according to the Fisheries Department.

"The leatherback population is experiencing more than 99
percent decline if you compare it to 40-50 years ago,"
Kamarruddin Ibrahim, head of the department's turtle center told
AFP.

The three landings are a pale shadow of the 10,000 recorded in
the 1960s in the Rantau Abang turtle sanctuary on a stretch of
sandy beach in northeast Terengganu state.

Kamarruddin's center is responsible for locating turtle eggs
laid on the beach and replanting them in the center's incubator,
away from greedy poachers.

Fourteen kilometers of the beach became a protected turtle
sanctuary in 1961 in an attempt to prevent the eggs being stolen
and eaten.

But even with new laws passed in the 1990s banning the
consumption of leatherback turtle eggs, the situation has not
improved.

"We failed to recover any eggs from the three landings last
year. They were most likely poached or eaten," Kamarudin said.
Lau Min Min, scientific officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature
Malaysia told AFP turtle eggs were a traditional source of
protein for locals.

"Before the ban, not many hatchlings got released into the
sea. Even if they did, the mortality rate of hatchlings is very
high. With every 1,000 released, only one will survive. And they
take 30 years to mature," Kamarruddin said.

A high number of leatherbacks and other turtles are also
killed by getting trapped in fishing nets in Malaysian and
international waters.

"We've been tagging our turtles for 30 years. We receive
reports from countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, Borneo and the
Philippines when they find our turtles drowned in fishing gear,
which happens too often," he said.

The people of neighboring countries also hunt the leatherback
for its meat or sacrifice it in religious rituals, he said.

"Uncontrolled tourism is also a factor. We could not control
the crowds that gathered in Rantau Abang when turtles were
plentiful. The beach was open to everyone," he said.

Min Min agrees the tourism industry boom contributed to the
decline, with hotels and bright lights near the beachfront
causing turtles to shy away.

In the early years, up to 2,000 tourists would camp in the
area, build bonfires, and even ride on the backs of the turtles.
Inept hatchery methods also caused their decline.

"We only now know the temperatures of 31-32 degrees Celsius
used at hatcheries around the country produced 100 percent female
turtles. So that means we have been producing female turtles
since 1961," Kamarruddin said.

Min Min supported this argument, saying that turtles would lay
their eggs either under vegetation, ensuring a cooler temperature
which would produce males or under direct sunlight to produce
females.

This would also explain why no eggs were hatched in 2001,
despite there being 21 detected landings.

"No fertilization or mating process took place, possibly due
to the lack of males," Kamarruddin said.

Chan Eng Heng, a professor at the University College of
Science and Technology of Malaysia and a turtle conservationist,
had predicted this sorry state of affairs in an article published
in 1996.

An analysis of the number of nestings from 1960 to early 1990
showed a steady decline, she said.

"Based on that, I predicted that leatherback turtle nesting
will come to nothing by 2003," she said, adding that the zero
record came a year earlier than the prediction.

Despite government efforts, not enough eggs were protected
between 1961 to 1987, she said.

"It is very sad. Rantau Abang used to be the prime location
for leatherbacks in the world. I'm not sure if anything can be
done now. There are no more eggs to protect. It's a bit too late
to rescue the leatherback," she said.

Min Min agreed. "There's no point in harping on about it. We
must learn from this and save other species like the green turtle
and the hawksbill turtle before they suffer the same fate," she
said.

Both species are categorized as "threatened".

WWF Malaysia is urging the authorities to take immediate steps
to ensure the safety of the two remaining turtle species, whose
numbers are still "good" according to the fisheries department.

This would include total egg protection, which is currently
limited to the leatherback, control over fishing gear and opening
up more protected sanctuaries along the Terengganu coastline.

On the leatherback, Kamarruddin outlined a new strategy to
increase its dwindling numbers.

"We will gradually shut down our hatchery production and
replace that with natural incubation. We will leave the eggs
where they are laid and deploy rangers to patrol the beaches.
It's costly but we have to do it," he said.

"Tourism should be controlled. Not every turtle beach should
be open to the public. Most should be turned into private or
semi-private beaches," Kamarudin said.

"We expect this year's numbers to increase. There is a
tendency for numbers to fluctuate from year to year. Turtle
nesting is cyclical. It would be good one year and bad the next.
I expect this year to be better," he said.

"We are not going to stop turtle conservation. It has been our
commitment since the 1960s even through their continual decline."