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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Environment Turtle trauma Conserving turtles in post tsunami nesting sites by Shanika Sriyananda It is a dark night with a sprinkling of stars and the winking lights of a ship in the far horizon providing the illumination. We are on a turtle hunt and have been advised against switching on the torch or even making any kind of noise. We are trudging, along the tsunami devastated beach in Rekawa. The turtle population said to have been washed away were trekking back to their old haunts.
We walk nearly half a mile along the beach, determined to catch a glimpse of at least one turtle. It is almost mid-night and the team comprising representatives of almost every media institute and IUCN researchers, have come to witness a special 'delivery', which takes place only in the night. We wait for sometime, hopeful that this very special creature - the turtle, who comes to the shore to lay eggs - would make her presence known. But she does not come ashore. Instead, two bare bodied tough men in sarongs, carrying flashgun like torches appear from the darkness and demand "Mahathayala Kauda. Monawada Karanne". (Who are you and what are you doing).
We do not see any turtles that night but hear many tales about how these innocent and helpless creatures fall prey to man's greed of an extra buck and to get more protein following the mythical belief that consuming turtle flesh will give 'extra strength'. Over thousands of turtles, coming to the undisturbed beaches of the country for millions of years to lay eggs, have been killed for their meat and shell. The highly endangered Hawksbill turtle had been killed for its shell to provide raw materials for the illegal 'tortoise shell' trade. According to TCP sources, over 5000 turtles were killed by the villagers for flesh and the carcases, last year. The tsunami had dealt a double blow for the turtles, as the fisherman, who are unable to catch and sell fish after the tsunami destruction now kill hundreds of turtles, to earn a living. As a daily ritual, despite law enforcement, the turtle hunters - wait hopefully to catch the innocent giants. As soon as they see them swimming in the shallow waters trying to come ashore to lay eggs, they are captured and slaughtered. The grim future of the turtles is threatened further due to the destruction of the coral reef- their feeding habitats - unsustainable harvesting, illegal poaching of turtle eggs, getting caught accidentally in fishing gear. The so-called egg protectors, lie about the fate of the turtle eggs laid just after the tsunami and say that none had 'survived' because they were eaten by 'dogs'. One of the youth introduces himself as, Siril and claims that the officials of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, who are the 'guardians' of the Rekawa Turtle Project had not inspected the condition of the project after the tsunami destruction. Meanwhile, the entrance to the hut, built by the DWLC to monitor the project has been blocked with a newly erected fence. The land, though coming under the 100 meter buffer zone is said to belong to a foreigner. According to sources, some community based egg collectors also support the egg thieves who wait until the turtles lay eggs or unearth the egg 'wells' after the turtles have left the scene. Nearby restaurants are ready to fry the eggs of the endangered species. Turtles and turtle eggs are fully protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and captivity, slaughtering or possessing turtles or any products is a punishable offence liable to a fine of Rs. 20,000. According to researchers, a female turtle, often lays her eggs in the same beach where she was born and swam to the sea nearly 30 years ago. Smelling the danger of predators, she is always very careful in selecting a nesting site. But, unfortunately females sometimes due to their wrong 'smelling', swim to the 'danger zones' not knowing the danger ahead. One villager who does not want to be identified says the killing process of a turtle would definitely make the onlooker cry. "It is inhumane. You can't believe that a human with a brain and a heart is using his hand to kill this very innocent creature who depends on sea grass and corals", he claims. According to him, four or five men would catch the turtle as soon as she finishes laying eggs and cut the neck with a sharp knife, while it screams in agony. " While it is still alive they cut the soft breastplate shell to remove it off her. The shells are used to make fancy hand-made items such as combs, hair clips, bangles and pendants. The mammal still clinging to life is then beheaded and thrown to the shore. The whole killing episode takes just 20 minutes.", he says. After the tsunami, mass scale slaughtering of turtle is said to have taken place in Mannar and Thalimannar and the flesh sold openly. Poor coordination among the law enforcement authorities, including the Police, DWLC officials and even the Fisheries Department officials who are often 'blind and deaf' to the tragic killings, facilitate the 'murderers' to continue with their slaughter. The spokesman for the TCP, Thushan Kapurusinghe condemning the turtle slaughter says that 'In-situ conservation' is the most natural conservation practice in turtle conservation and it allows the animals to survive under natural conditions. "Both nesting turtles and the hatchlings show high ecological sensitive behaviour, while nesting, crawling down to the sea, swimming and feeding patterns". According to Kapurusinghe, 'in situ' conservation does not mean only the conservation of nesting females and hatchlings on the beach but also the conservation of hatchlings, juveniles, male and female adults in the sea as well. " Therefore, the 'in situ' conservation actions must be taken both in the sea and on the beaches. Protecting coastal vegetation and coral reefs are 'in situ' conservation activities to conserve the marine turtles", he points out. The DWLC conserves the Rekawa and Bundala nesting sites to protect marine turtle nests and the recent mass scale slaughtering of turtles is ringing the alarm bells to implement similar projects in other nesting beaches like Kahandamodara beach, which has nestings of all five turtle species, Godawaya beach, which is popular for Leatherback nesting and Kalametiya, where Hawksbill turtles are coming for nesting. According to Assistant Program Officer ICUN Sandun J. Perera, problems that hinder turtle conservation in the Rekawa area are loss of coastal nesting habitats due to illegal encroachment by hoteliers who construct buildings along the beach and the use of harmful illegal fishing practices, especially to capture sharks. "The extensive encroachment and illegal fishing practices along the Rekawa beach over the past two years are the main problems in conserving turtles. The turtles which gather around Rekawa due to abundant food sources get entangled in the shark nets. Villagers have observed a large number of dead turtles including the rare Leatherback turtle in this area", he points out. Perera says poaching of eggs, egg predation by feral animals (e.g. dogs in Oruwella, Medilla and Kahandamodara), clearing of beach vegetation, human traffic (tourism and fishing), construction of houses, hotels, cabanas mainly in Rekawa - Turtle Point, Medilla and Wellaodae areas, disturbance from artificial illumination in Medilla, Rekawa areas and sand and Coral mining in Oruwella are the major threats to conserving turtles in Rekawa, Ussangoda and Kahandamoda. The mass slaughtering of these mammals have prompted the government to take tough action against the 'killers'. The DWLC has also taken steps to declare the Rekawa as the first turtle sanctuary in Sri Lanka. **** Turtle species familiar to Sri Lanka Rekawa (2km) - Green turtle, Olive ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead Kandamodara (3.5km) - Green turtle, Olive ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead Kalametiya (3km) - Green turtle, Olive ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill Godawaya (4km) - Green turtle, Olive ridley, Leatherback Bundala (4km) - Green turtle, Olive ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) are the five species of marine turtles that inhabit the territorial waters of Sri Lanka. Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) and Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) are listed as critically endangered, while other species are listed as endangered by The World Conservation Union (IUCN). Let's help save the vanishing jumbos A newly formed organisation, Sri Lanka Elephant Conservation Project (SLECP), has issued a sticker to raise funds to implement a project to reduce human-elephant conflict (HEC) and to conserve the vanishing elephant population in the country. Closely working with the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) and the National Zoological Garden, Dehiwala, the SLECP assists the DWLC in elephant count in Wayamba. The main objectives of the project are to assist in the opening of elephant corridors which were closed for years, clear the garbage dumps where the elephants consume undigestible items such as polythene, to find out the reasons why the elephants come to the villages and also to introduce an insurance policy for damaged crops. For more details call: 0722795444 or 011-2239366. Lanka's waterfalls Lanka Council on Waterfalls (LCWF) released Sri Lanka's first CD titled 'Sri Lankan Waterfalls' compiled by Dharman Wickramaratne. This is the first ever CD in Sri Lanka which contains 382, waterfalls with photographs. Lanka Council on Waterfalls after research from January 2001 to December 2004, which identified 382 waterfalls in Sri Lanka. Earlier only 99 waterfalls had been recorded. This programme had the objective of developing a set of activities that would contribute towards the study of waterfalls by LCWF. LCWF is a non-profit organisation which has worked nationally and internationally since its inception in year 2000 to improve public awareness and understanding of water issues with a view to promote the conservation and wise use of nature and natural resources. LCWF designs and manages innovative high quality programs that build capacity in the field of environment education. Pinnawala elephants : Primped for show?
On 2nd January 2005, at Pinnawala -1.30 pm - milk feeding time. The keepers were lovingly feeding the bigger baby elephants (toddler group). As the feeding continued, visitors were given opportunities to pose with the bottle of milk. I realised that the keepers seemed more interested in the blatant and shameless collection of cash from the visitors than monitoring the correct amount of milk being fed to the elephants. At 2 pm - bath time The beautiful gentle elephants started walking towards the river. There were approximately fifty eight elephants. If I got the counting right, of all different age groups. They came down the dusty road and stepped into the river. There were about 4 or 5 keepers accompanying the elephants. The elephants stood knee deep in the water and few different age groups started to stray. Some to the river bank for a dust or mud bath, which they seemed to enjoy. Except one energetic young keeper with a Hendu, the other keepers were happily sitting on the rock near the hotel and were watching the crowd so intently that their job seemed to be to make sure no body ran away from human herd!! Again, they used this opportunity to collect cash as tips for the photographs taken. The energetic junior mahout with the hendu appeared to be a real show-off. It was almost like performing at his own show. He ran around with his hendu shouting, commanding and disturbing the dust and mud bathers and even those who wanted to share a private moment in pairs away from the hustle and bustle. To the visitors he appeared like a deranged amateur Javelin thrower. The elephants in turn did a 'catch me if you can' turn back into the water, but the energetic keeper did not stop at that. He chased the elephants in the water and pricked and pulled at them with vengeance. It was obvious that the keeper's ideas were different from those of the majestic creatures wanting to enjoy the dust, mud, the water and the company. The keeper made sure the elephants simply stood knee deep in the water all huddled together, I mean truly, huddled together, body to body in one big elephant lump. There was no laying in the water or fun spraying. During one of these hendu sessions one of the very disturbed young elephants spontaneously emptied his bowels more as an immediate reaction to the cruelty, than a natural act of relaxed elimination. The whole feed time and bath time scenarios were rather distasteful to any animal lover, so let me as an ordinary lay person suggest the following: 1. Give the mahouts a better training and knowledge of the importance of their job. Tell them that they are caring for Orphans and not for criminals, Educate them on their role as carers and that they are in the lime light on the local and international scene and that their behaviour reflects that of the Sri Lankan society. And those visitors do carry away evidence of this cruelty scenario on their video cameras, in addition to the memory of unnecessary trauma caused to the elephants both mental and physical. Teach them that bath time is the only fun time for animals to have the freedom to relax, although it is a boring daily ritual for the mahouts. 2. Let the team of mahouts with their hendus and verbal commands spread around the periphery of the elephant bath area, they could keep an eye on the herd whilst the animals enjoy a relaxed bath. 3. Have notice boards in all relevant languages as follows: Do not get close to the animals Photographs are permitted free of charge. Any goodwill gifts of cash or cheques towards the staff can be deposited into the box at the office to be shared by the elephant keepers. 4. High officers of the Department of Wild Life to be present on site at feed, bath and other times even on a flying squad roster to observe the happenings and to guide the keepers. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
The flipper marks of the sleek grey mammals were evidenced to this
amazing phenomenon. 
The youth identify themselves as 'egg protectors' of the community based
turtle conservation project launched by the Department of Wildlife
Conservation and the Turtle Conservation Project and confirm that turtles
are now coming to this popular haunt - the Rekawa beach- to lay eggs, which
are frequently stolen by the villagers and by dogs in the vicinity. 
Sujatha Jayawardena, a regular visitor to Pinnawala elephant orphanage
for many years, saddened by the commercialisation of the elephants feed and
bath times gives some pointers on how to better train the mahouts to improve
the quality of life of the elephants. 
