Turtle carcasses being brought to Kota Kinabalu for post-mortem.
Severely decomposing Green Turtle carcasses found on the island.
KUDAT: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) yesterday expressed its disappointment after learning from a newspaper report last Sunday that some members of the public did have information on the illegal Green Turtle hunting but had failed to inform the relevant authorities about it.
SWD West Coast Office wildlife officer Roland Niun said in a press statement that if those with the information had informed SWD, they could have acted fast enough to catch the perpetrators.
He said SWD, together with the Sabah Parks Rangers, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the marine police had gone to Pulau Tiga, based on a tip-off and discovered 19 rotting Green Turtle carcasses on the island.
Pulau Tiga is located at the northern side of the Balambangan Banggi channel, north of Kudat and about two hours by speed boat from Karakit, the main town on Banggi Island.
He cited that the case looked very similar to what had occurred exactly a year ago where 50 rotting carcasses were found by a University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) lecturer on the same island.
“We highly suspect that these turtles were meant to be smuggled out alive by sea to a foreign country but due to the constant sea patrols by the MMEA and the marine police, they failed to do so.
“This island is very strategically located for smugglers as it is the closest island to the Philippines and is uninhabited,” added Roland.
Meanwhile, SWD director William Baya said the area where the turtle carcasses were found was within the proposed Tun Mustapa Marine Park which measures almost one million hectares.
“It harbours one of the richest marine flora and fauna complexes in the world and is also home to more than 80,000 coastal dwellers who depend on a healthy and sustainable supply of marine resources,” he said.
He described what transpired as a great tragedy, especially since it occurred before at the very same place (Pulau Tiga).
“As this area is within the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) which comes under the control of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom), SWD hopes to work more closely with MMEA, the marine police and other relevant agencies to monitor and patrol these areas and to catch these culprits who are responsible for this heinous crime,” added William.
He then reminded that SWD has its own 24-hour hotline number 0128019289 that could be used to report any kind of information that could assist in the investigation of this case.
Currently, the carcasses have been brought to Kota Kinabalu for post-mortem.
Though most of the carcasses are badly decomposed, SWD hopes that they can still shed some light on the cause of death of these turtles, thus assisting the investigation.
Under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 Section 1 Schedule 1, the Green Turtle is a fully protected species, and any person convicted for hunting this species can face up to five years in jail or a fine of RM50,000, or both.
SWD assistant director Dr Sen Nathan also commented on the issue and urged media members with information on the occurrence of illegal wildlife activities to inform SWD immediately.
“I assure you we will take appropriate action. I know ‘bad news’ sells but for the care and welfare of our wildlife in Sabah, please make this as a priority and selling newspapers, secondary,” he said.