Hatchery

Bumper Egg-Laying Season Calls for More Buying

admin Hatchery
Bumper Egg-Laying Season Calls for More Buying
A newly-hatched green turtle, set to swim.

A newly-hatched green turtle, set to swim.

We need money to keep saving turtles!

This month has seen massive green turtle landings on the East Coast, and we don’t have enough money to save all the eggs. Unsaved eggs go to the local markets and are eaten.

The market rate is RM2.50 an egg — and every egg has a chance to become a turtle. Please contribute to the Rimbun Dahan Turtle Hatchery at Sungai Chendor, Pahang, where we buy freshly-laid turtle eggs from the boys who scour the beaches. These eggs are reburied in our hatchery until they hatch, and the hatchlings released into the sea.

Last year we bought just 5,000 for the whole season from April to September. This year we have already purchased 2,177 eggs in the first 3 weeks of April…. , so the season has started really well!

Please send contributions to CIMB account Angela Jane binti Abdullah 8000553551, marked Hatchery and with your name. Or email Angela Hijjas at angelahijjas@gmail.com. Donors are welcome to visit our hatchery and release baby turtles during hatching season.

 

First Turtle Hatchery Season at Chendor

admin Chendor, Environment, Hatchery
First Turtle Hatchery Season at Chendor

Pak Su of the Geliga Hatchery is keeping a watchful eye on our hatchery at Chendor Beach, at the northern tip of Cherating in Pahang. Rimbun Dahan is building a small “eco” resort on the beach and the first thing that’s operational is the hatchery for mostly Green Turtles.

This egg-laying season, which peaked between April and September, we bought 5,880 eggs and reburied them on Chendor Beach. We estimate that by the time all have hatched we will have a success rate of about 60%. Gestation takes between 45 and 60 days and when Pak Su considers it appropriate he excavates the nest to check on the status of the eggs: often tree roots can prevent them escaping the nest, and on our site the sand is too fine, leading to compaction after rain that can make it very difficult for the turtles to dig themselves out.

We release all our hatchlings within 24 hours of hatching to ensure that they have the largest energy reserves to start their journey. And thanks to all the generous people who have given money to Pak Su to buy more eggs — your kindness has been recorded on the door!