Turtle population in Sorong drops

Turtle population in Sorong drops

JAYAPURA, Papua: The population of a rare turtle species in the Jamursba Medi coastal area in Sorong, Papua, has dropped to less than 500, a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) finding has revealed.

Creusa Hitipuew, a WWF researcher in Sahul district, Papua, said in Jayapura on Monday that the number of turtles laying eggs on Medi beach had dropped to a little over 430 in 2002 from 3,306 in 1984.

"More than 200 turtles of the belimbing (star fruit) species could be found at the Jamursba Medi coast every night in 1984, but the number dropped to about 30 between 1990 and 1995," he said.

He said predators like boars, coastal abrasion and the theft of turtle eggs by men were the main threats to the continued existence of this species in the area, which could be minimized by coastal patrols and a public awareness campaign.

"Over the last 10 years WWF and the National Resources Conservation Agency of Sorong have conserved the threatened coastal habitat, and now over 1,000 turtles land every night, including the scaled and green species," Creusa added. --JP