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
