Help Save the Turtles!

Lately, there has been lot's of news on the illegal poaching of the protected sea turtles in the Malaysian waters. Most of them didn't survive the ordeal. They weigh 50 to 60 kgs each & are between 70 to 80 years old. They could easily live to more than 100 years old in the wild.

Those poor turtles. Already dwindling in numbers due to sea pollution & lack of nesting places. Now, those poor buggers are on the fashion magazine & also restaurant menu. A small Hawksbill is worth about RM1,000 and its shell can be made into spectacle frames and other accessories. Green turtles are valued for their medicinal properties (hearsay terrapin meat cooked with some Chinese herbs can increase ones sexual libido), which according to some may be worth up to RM70,000 each!

I wonder if tortoises & terrapins will risk being tortoise-napped as well. In any case, I'm not taking the risk & my tortoises will stay indoors for a while until things cool down. Otherwise, I will have to think of some ways to camouflage them from the eyes of their tortoise-nappers so that Slow Coach and Charlie will not fall into the same fate as their cousins at sea. Hmm... perhaps planting some grass on their shells so that they will blend nicely with the surrounding garden...

Ok, on the serious side. Do you know that the Hawksbill is the Melaka's Marine Ambassador? WWF Malaysia has come up with various projects in their effort to safeguard the Hawksbill turtles. Find out more from the link below:

http://www.wwfmalaysia.org/turtles/index.htm

Please support WWF-Malaysia's work to save the critically endangered hawksbills turtles from extinction. You can make a meaningful difference! Please donate today to WWF Malaysia's save the turtle campaign.

Note: Under Section 15 of the Fisheries Act, Malaysia: If convicted of illegal poaching of the protected turtles, the skipper of the ship would face a maximum fine of RM1mil, while the ship's crews could each face a fine of RM100,000 in default imprisonment.