Turtles abused at sanctuary

Turtles abused at sanctuary

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Workers entrusted with protecting rare giant leatherback turtles at a Malaysian government-run sanctuary have been abusing the creatures and eating their eggs, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

Guards at the sanctuary in the northeastern Trengganu state were seen eating turtle eggs in front of tourists, defying a ban on the sale and consumption of such eggs, The Star said.

The Rantau Abang sanctuary for nesting leatherbacks was set up in 1988 on a 13-kilometer stretch of palm-fringed beach to woo the migratory turtles, whose numbers have dwindled due to man's presence near their habitat.

The leatherback is the world's largest turtle, growing to a maximum of two meters in length, and is known to migrate at least 6,000 kilometers in the open seas.

Their numbers along the Trengganu coast have dropped from the 2,000 recorded 30 years ago to about 20 in 1991, officials said.