Drones could Help save Sea Turtles

Drones could Help save Sea Turtles

Drones, acting as eyes in the sky, can help protect forests against illegal loggers. They can help keep better track of wildlife. And they can also be used to help save endangered species. Like turtles. Researchers at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom deployed drones to keep a…

Turtle Landing sites are under Threat

Turtle Landing sites are under Threat

Sea turtle nesting sites in Labuan are declining. As compared to 2016 there are a third fewer such landings on Kuraman and Rusukan Besar islands by hawksbill turtles, olive-ridley turtles and green turtles. So says Anuar Deraman, director of Labuan Marine Park. “Despite [an] increase of 18% in hawksbill sea…

Plastic Waste is a Threat to Sea Turtles

Plastic Waste is a Threat to Sea Turtles

Plastic bottles and bottle caps. Plastic candy wrappers and plastic shopping bags. Plastic cups and plastic boxes. Plastic shoes and plastic flip-flops. Plastic cigarette lighters and plastic toothbrushes. There are billions upon billions of such random pieces of plastic waste floating around in the ocean and marine animals have ended…

The Slaughter of Sea Turtles in Sabah is a Heinous Crime

The Slaughter of Sea Turtles in Sabah is a Heinous Crime

News travels fast and the butchery of some 100 endangered sea turtles on an island off Semporna in Sabah has made news worldwide in conservationists circles since the carcasses of the reptiles were discovered a week or so ago. Such is the fate of Malaysia these days: often the country,…

Success in Saving Sea Turtles

Success in Saving Sea Turtles

Researchers have long been sounding the death knell for sea turtles and not without cause. Several species of these placid reptiles around the world’s oceans, including Malaysian waters, have been pushed ever closer to the brink of extinction. The animals have been losing their traditional nesting grounds to coastal developments…

Sea turtles in Melaka are Losing out to Hotels, Condominiums and Malls

Sea turtles in Melaka are Losing out to Hotels, Condominiums and Malls

Sea turtles in Melaka are losing out to a usual suspect: relentless coastal land reclamation. Sandy dunes and beaches are being bulldozed and razed to make way for new luxury hotels, upscale condominiums and flashy beachside shopping malls, leaving turtles with precious little space in which to lay their eggs….

Scrambling to Save Malaysia’s Wildlife

Scrambling to Save Malaysia’s Wildlife

In its newly released Living Planet Report 2016, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has painted an alarming picture of the impending prospects of the planet’s wildlife. Unless we change course, the numbers of wild animals will have declined by a staggering 67% by the year 2020, a mere…