Lanka among world’s best biodiversity hot spots

Poachers eye sea turtles:

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

Sri Lanka is among the best biodiversity hot spots in the world – one among just 25 spots that still exist on the globe. With this blessing there comes a threat as well. This is a threat that is generated by the unending desires of humans.

The desire for the most exotic and rarest is a significant factor for the endangerment of the species. Many people desire to own wild animals as pets and in most cases it does not seem to be the love of the animal. True love would be to let these animals live peacefully in their own environment. Not only rearing wild animals, but wearing parts of certain animals as ornaments is a huge trend amidst huge resistance from environment concerned humans.

Sri Lanka has shown such trends in different magnitudes even in the history. As Anslem de Silva, expert herpetologist says in one of his researches on the Turtle shell industry of Sri Lanka, the scutes or scales of the carapace of live Hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata had been collected in Sri Lanka since pre-Christian times to produce a variety of objects used by men and women in daily life and these scutes, either as finished products or the raw scutes, have been exported to India and Rome.

According to his research due to the strict implementation of wildlife laws banning the sale of turtle shell products has made this industry collapse. “Sri Lankan turtle shell artisans were considered as some of the finest in the world and some turtle shell artifacts made from the best shell were ornamented with gold or silver filigree work,” according to de Silva’s research that was completed in 2011.

According to his research, considering historical records by ‘Strabo’ and ‘Pliny the Elder’, famous travel writers of these ancient times, we see that large quantities of Hawksbill turtle scutes and turtle shell products had been exported during the first and the second century A.C. “Also, Pliny’s comment of 'catching large tortoises formed the chief object of fishing in Sri Lanka which had been pursued with great pleasure' and 'that the turtle shells formed the roof of houses' that large number of turtles have been killed for their scutes and flesh during this period,” de Silva explained.

The researcher, in years 2000 – 2002, has found that certain tourist shops were selling turtle shell products secretly though the Fauna and Flora Protection Act of June 1972 makes it an offence. A separate survey carried in 1997 has recorded that between the years 1994 – 1996 indicated that at least 112 tourist shops were selling turtle shell products. “But today we see that this trade has virtually stopped,” de Silva said based on his observations.

Tortoise

The invasive Red-eared terrapin

Hawksbill turtle

Accordingly, these turtles, almost all females, are caught during their nesting season and nesting times. Poachers hired by businessmen, camp in exact beach locations where female turtles come to lay their eggs. “At this time the poachers ambush and turn over the turtle and immediately tie the four limbs with strong forest creepers or peeled bark, and insert a pole for carrying. Once virtually all the nesting females are captured during the entire night, the poachers get ready for the next job, removing the scutes,” as de Silva said in his research.

Turtles were captured in northern seas not only by turning nesting females on their backs but also by harpooning and the use of three types of nets. This was mainly for the green turtle that was a popular dish in Jaffna in earlier times. It is possible that the Hawksbill turtle would also have been captured in this manner to supply their scutes to the turtle shell craftsmen in Jaffna.

The research has also found that the turtle shell artisans of Sri Lanka prefer scutes removed from live animals, as they believed that scutes taken from dead animals would lose much of their translucent lustre. Thus, several large fires are set up and the live turtles are suspended individually on supports above the fire so that the carapaces face towards the flames. Once the scales are well heated and soft, the men quickly remove the appropriate scutes, as the researcher have found out. Researches done by several other zoologists before de Silva also mention this fact. Some researchers have found that the poachers kill the animals and immediately putting in boiling water. “Additionally, I was informed that some kill the turtle, remove the scutes and consume the flesh as long as it is not poisonous,” he said.

Many zoologists who have done research in the past have mentioned different views on removing the scutes by the poachers.

According to de Silva’s research, traditional craftsmen from Galle, Ambalangoda, and Kandawatha used a variety of implements to cut, fuse, file and polish the scutes. “Of these implements, several are homemade while a few, such as various metal saws, rasps and pressing machines are purchased from hardware shops. All wooden and metal moulds and the furnace are homemade items,” he states in his research. The turtle scutes are purchased in large quantities and in the 1980s one kilogram of turtle scutes have cost around Rs. 3,000, according to the findings by the researcher.

Major decline

“Ornamental head combs; there are various ornamental head combs worn as a part of the head-dress by men women. The horseshoe-shaped ornamental head comb known as Nemi panawa (bent comb) is worn by men of some social position in society in certain coastal areas. Wearing the bent comb and the ‘Kelin panawa’ (upright comb) together was usually done by men who held high position in society or by high ranking government officers for special occasions in the southern coastal areas of the country until around 1940s. Some upright combs were expensive, being ornamented with gold or silver and inlaid with precious gemstones,”

According to the researcher, it appears that in Sri Lanka the main raw material used in the turtle shell craft is the scutes of Hawksbill turtle (‘Eretmochelys imbricata’). However, extreme rarely an item made from the star tortoise (‘Geochelone elegans’) and other marine turtles are found.

“Due to wide harvesting of nesting Hawksbill turtle from ancient times we see significant declines of the Hawksbill turtle populations visiting their usual nesting beaches around the island over the past 2,000 years,” de Silva explained. “According to historical data we can observe two significant episodes in the turtle population decline,” de Silva said analysing statistics gathered over many years. Part of the first episode can be justified with the writings of Strabo and Pliny the Elder that mentions the industry catering to export turtle shell goods to countries like Rome. Referring to a research conducted in 1961 direct trade had been flourishing between Sri Lanka and the West during the first Century A.C. that had developed rapidly.

“In addition to trades with India and Rome, due to this lucrative businesses to the West, vast number of nesting females would have been collected for their scutes, which resulted in dramatic decline in the females visiting their nesting Beaches,” de Silva said. “This can be substantiated by certain historical records during the second century A.C. that states all the tortoise-shells needed for the industry came from the Malay Peninsula. Thus, we could infer that a significant decline of nesting female Hawksbill turtle visiting their usual nesting beaches in Sri Lanka occurred around the 2nd century AC due to over harvesting in the island and Hawksbill turtle scutes had to be imported from other countries,” said de Silva.

The second decline, as de Silva said, can be seen after about 1,500 years. “By the end of the nineteenth century, Hawksbill turtle scutes had to be imported again from Maldives and Malaysia, since there was not enough to meet the demand to turn out turtle shell products suggesting a decline in the number of females visiting these beaches,” de Silva said. “According to some reports in the twentieth century we see that turtle shells had to be imported and the number of kilos from 1920 to 1926 had increased considerably. Even some of the later reports (1958 and 1973) substantiate this decline. These records mention that Hawksbill turtle scutes are rare, and had to be imported from Maldives and Penang (Malaysia).

According to Sri Lanka Custom’s statistics, 263 kilos of raw scutes had been imported from Maldives in 1988. Also, there is evidence that the Hawksbill turtle scutes were smuggled from Maldives for the industry,” said de Silva. Another research, done in 2006 shows a drastic decline of up to 95 percent of the populations of the Hawksbill in the Indian Ocean, specifically in Madagascar, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, due to international trade in Hawksbill shell that happened even during the first part of the twentieth century, as de Silva said.

Cleaners

Not only the turtles, even the tortoises face similar life threatening situations due to anthropogenic activities.

The turtles and tortoises play a keyrole in the eco system. Turtles are the scavengers of the aquatic eco system. They feed on dead, injured or sick animals as turtles themselves are slow moving animals and are unable to speed and hunt. By removing the unhealthy elements, turtles maintain a healthy aquatic community. The more turtles there are in the sea ensures more healthy fish for consumption. There are herbivore turtles as well in the system. The turtles and tortoises are collectively known as chelonians in the animal kingdom. The carnivores of these chelonians feed on snails and insects that spread diseases to humans and to our livestock animals. Tortoises are living on scrub land and on poor quality forage.

Sri Lanka is one of those countries in the world that could boast of having the three major types of chelonians, the freshwater terrapins, land tortoises and marine turtles.

Sri Lankan fresh waters harbours three species of freshwater terrapins, out of which one sub-species, Parker's black turtle (‘Melanochelys trijuga parkeri’), which is considered to be the rarest fresh water turtle in the country with only a few scattered records. It is mainly known from the northern areas and certain coastal areas of the country. ‘Melanochelys trijuga’ is commonly known as ‘gal ibba’ in Sinhala. The other sub-species of ‘Gal Ibba’ (‘Melanochelis trijuga thermalis’) is very common and is distributed throughout the island except at highest altitudes and inhabits a wide range of habitats including paddy field and ditches in town areas. The soft-shelled terrapin living in the fresh waters known as ‘kiri ibba’ (Lissemys ceylonesis) is mainly found in the lowlands but also occupies some water bodies in the hills. When disturbed it hides under mud and among aquatic vegetation. Both species are intensively hunted for flesh. All terrapins act as natural scavengers, which is very important. The other one is the beautiful star tortoise (Geochelone elegans).

Invasive and threat

The Red-eared terrapin or Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), is an ‘alien' species of terrapin brought in to Sri Lanka as an ornamental aquatic creature. This alien species has established a stable population in several large water bodies, mainly around Colombo. It is considered to be one of the world's worst Alien Invasive Species, and these populations are considered to be formed by escaped or released animals from houses while living as pets. This terrapin, which can easily adapt to natural conditions, can do a great damage to aquatic ecosystems and the juveniles of the species are known to carry the Salmonella bacteria that can hugely threaten the health of the aquatic eco systems of our environment.

In Sri Lanka the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance 2009 amendment clearly states that the three species of tortoises and five species of turtles are protected by all means, said Environment Lawyer Jagath Gunawardane. According to the law keeping these animals or parts of them, killing them for flesh or otherwise and harming them is cognisable and non-bailable offence.

The greatest threat, particularly on the Star Tortoise is illegal smuggling. “Certain foreign websites promoting the pet trade have been noticed to mention the star tortoise in their lists and specify that they are from Sri Lanka,” said Gunawardane.

This is an indication that star tortoises are made available in the world market though the Sri Lankan law strictly prevents taking these animals out of the country.

According to our observations the threats on these animals have increased on the recent past. We cannot exactly say that the illegal smuggling has gone up. But it has not declined too,” Gunawardane explained. The law is strong enough, he said. “What is crucial is proper implementation of these laws. The wildlife officers need to seriously implement these laws and a non interfering environment is crucial for this to be effective. Apart from them the Police also have enough powers to stop illegal activities taking place using protected species and police officers need to be trained in this,” he added, saying that Sri Lanka has enough resources to protect the Sri Lankan biodiversity and only properly managing them is needed.