Taste for leatherback eggs contributes to Malaysian turtle's demise - AFP

[Eugene]

Taste for leatherback eggs contributes to Malaysian turtle's demise

by Hamish Townsend

Fri Feb 9, 12:20 PM ET

TERENGGANU, Malaysia (AFP) - The mass nestings of leatherback turtles on Malaysia's
beaches was once one of nature's great spectacles but since 2000, not a single baby
leatherback has scampered to the sea.

The demise of the iconic turtle, which many scientists say is now effectively extinct
here, is blamed on a local appetite for their eggs, coastal development, destructive
fishing practices -- and a heartbreaking scientific mistake.

"Frankly there is very little hope for the leatherback, judging by the nesting trends
and that none have hatched for six years," said Professor Chan Eng Heng of the
Universiti Terengganu Malaysia.

-snip-

It is believed the breeding population is now too small to be sustainable. The previously
common Olive Ridley Turtle is also thought lost to the area, and the hawksbill and green
turtles are also in danger.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070209/sc_afp/malaysiaenvironment_070209163323

[NYC]

1. The "heartbreaking scientific mistake" was:

A hatchery programme for the leatherback was begun in Malaysia in the 1960s when concerns were first raised about turtle numbers, but unfortunately what was designed as a helping hand turned out to be disastrous.

Turtle eggs are extremely sensitive to heat and movement. If the ambient temperature sits above 30 degrees the offspring are almost guaranteed to be female, but if it is below 28 degrees it will almost certainly be male.

Early on turtle eggs were kept in open boxes to collect the sun's warmth, but unknown to the scientists, for 30 years Terengganu's turtle hatcheries were releasing hundreds of thousands of almost exclusively female turtles.