LEPIDOCHELYS OLIVACEA, (DWERGSCHILDPAD, WARANA)

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LEPIDOCHELYS OLIVACEA,  (DWERGSCHILDPAD, WARANA)
Eschscholtz 1829

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Van Lepidochelys bestaan er twee soorten, Lepidochelys olivacea en Lepidochelys kempii.
Lepidochelys oliviaca kent geografische verschillen, echter te klein om ondersoorten te benoemen.
Bijvoorbeeld vrouwtjes levend in het zeegebied bij Suriname hebben een carpax lengte van 62-74cm.
De populatie levend voor de kust van Honduras 58-74cm en de Lepisochelys olivacea van het Mexicaanse
zeegebied 56-78cm.
De foto's hieronder zijn genomen op een Mexicaans strand.
Lepidochelys olivacea leefd in open water voor de kust van de Pasific stranden van Zuid-Amerika, dit leefgebied delen ze met de Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).
Op sommige plekken delen ze ook legstranden.
Wat betreft voeding van Lepidochelys olivacea is niet veel bekend observatie's zijn gemaakt van de volgende soorten voedsel, algen, krabben, kreeften, garnalen en kwallen.
Een van de meest unieke gewoonte van Lepidochelys olivacea is goed zichtbaar op de foto's.
Ze staan bekend om grote aantallen vrouwtjes die tegelijk aan strand komen om hun nest te graven en hun eieren af te zetten.
Dit gedrag heeft de naam "'Arribadas"'.
Een spectaculair gezicht wat omschreven kan worden als een wonder van de natuur als honderde vrouwtjes Lepidochelys olivacea uit de zee tevoorschijn komen, en tegelijk klaar zijn en zich verzameld hebben om hun eieren aftezetten.
De foto's zijn gemaakt op het La Escobilla Beach in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Een van de nog maar weinig overgebleven stranden van Mexico waar dit verschijnsel nog te zien is.

We willen graag Gustavo A. Zambrano Cabrera hartelijk bedanken voor de info. en foto's die hij gegeven heeft waarop hij prachtig de "'Arribadas"' van Lepidochelys olivacea heeft vast gelegd.

Bedankt Gustavo,

Schildpadden crew

























Foto's gemaakt door; Gustavo A. Zambrano Cabrera

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INDIA TODAY (New Delhi) 29 May 08 Crawling towards death (Elora Sen)
It used to be one of the most unforgettable sights from the height of the Indian summer: thousands of the world-famous Olive Ridley turtles waddling out of the water to nest and breed on the pristine white sand beaches of Gahirmatha in Orissa on magical, moonlit nights.
Not just the Olive Ridleys, most other species of turtle also emerge of their hibernation spanning winters and begin mating and looking for proper nesting places.
This mass movement, typical of the turtles, is ironically what has made them even more vulnerable. Mating season for this animal, which is believed to have outlived every other prehistoric species of reptile, has also become prime poaching season.
Extensive surveys by the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) have revealed that the once abundant freshwater turtles are now facing extinction, not only in Orissa but elsewhere in India too.
According to a WSO study, as many as five out of the 11 species of freshwater turtles typically found in Orissa, no longer exist in the Mahanadi river, which once used to be their main habitat.
Rampant poaching, encouraged by illegal trade, is believed to have resulted in their dwindling numbers.
The reptiles are mostly caught at the delta heads of this river— Dhabaleswar, Mundali, Padmavati and Kantilo and also in the upstream river of Cuttack. Also, distributaries like Chitrotpala and Luna are happy hunting grounds for poachers.
With most of the riverbeds drying up in summer months and reducing water levels in many, it becomes easy for poachers to spot the animal.
With May 23 having been celebrated as the World Turtle Day, environmentalists plan to focus on saving the animal and push their programme for turtle conservation to a higher level.
It promises to be an uphill task. Despite an official ban, turtle meat continues to be sought after and sold openly even now in rural Bengal, especially in pockets of Midnapore.
“Almost without exception, all consignments that have been nabbed by the officials of the Orissa Forest Department were meant for traders in West Bengal,” claims Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of WSO.
Mohanty has been involved in wildlife conservation in Orissa for 14 years and is also a member of the National Board of Wildlife. A chartered accountant by profession, Mohanty has kept his focus trained on turtle conservation since 1998.
The very idea of turtle conservation seemed incongruous as recently as two decades ago. Till the late ’70s, turtle meat was openly sold in the fish markets lining the lanes of Kolkata.
It was considered a delicacy, with locals vouching that its taste was better than mutton. It was more affordable and was said to have a high nutrition quotient.
Such qualities only served to fuel the demand for turtle meat and endangered the turtle population in the state and across the borders in Orissa. Only the Indian tent roofed turtle is not targeted by poachers as its meat is not edible.
Today, a quick round of the major markets of Kolkata, does not show blatant sales of turtle meat. Mohanty claims that the trade is being carried on surreptitiously in Kolkata through home deliveries at the rate of Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg.
The fact that capturing, killing or selling freshwater turtle is punishable under the Wildlife Protection Act has not really been a deterrent so far.
With marine turtles being on the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) list of endangered species, their conservation has become a key concern for environmentalists.
In fact, ecologists say that with the turtle population in West Bengal becoming thinner, illegal traders are sourcing these animals from states as distant as Punjab and Gujarat.
Jayesh Bhatt, director (Gujarat) of WWF India, says all these turtles are invariably bound for West Bengal.
Their allegedly high food value apart, the reptiles are randomly poached for their shells which are smuggled out of the country for medicinal purposes.
“The shells are believed to be rich in calcium,” says Mohanty. Moreover, smaller varieties like the star tortoise are popular as pets and fetch anything close to $100 (Rs 4,093) each abroad.
Poachers use various methods to trap turtles and most are crude enough to harm and kill the animal during the process itself. Often, a line of multiple sharp fishing hooks are strung along a fishing line and placed across the river.
The animals get entangled in these hooks and are then easy to catch. Or they are caught using rotten flesh as bait. For this, a piece of flesh is put on a fishing hook and a turtle trying to eat it gets caught.
Sometimes, a carcass of a cow, dog or buffalo is kept near the river bank as a bait and the poachers catch the reptile as it comes out to feed on the body.
Pointing out that the initiative taken by the West Bengal government is not enough to keep a thorough check on the trade, Mohanty regrets that few arrests are made when consignments are seized in the state.
“We have found even Bangladeshi fishermen coming and camping in various places in Orissa. They pay local fishermen a small amount of money, and in return are allowed to poach the turtles,” he adds.
Much of the problem is believed to have resulted from lack of appropriate awareness among the locals. When the WSO team went about educating fishermen in the rural areas about the importance of conservation of turtles, it found the response more than encouraging.
In fact, some locals have stopped entertaining Bangladeshi fishermen in Orissa.
The awareness programme has received a further impetus with help coming from a Kolkata-based apparel firm which has tied up with WSO and WWF for the conservation of freshwater turtles in Orissa and Gujarat.
After work began at the Mahanadi river, the upstream areas (Cuttack and upwards) are now believed to be relatively safer for the animal although it is alleged that nearly 2-3 quintal of the Lisseymus Punctata—the most abundant variety—are still smuggled out every week.
Apart from deliberate poaching, turtles are often inadvertently caught by fishermen whose trawlers are not fitted with turtle excluders.
Fishermen in the Mahanadi have now begun complaining about how the turtles are damaging their nets and ironically want the government to compensate them. It is time the turtles were compensated for all the losses they had to suffer all these years.
Shell shock
- According to a study, as many as five out of the 11 species of freshwater turtles typically found in Orissa, no longer exist.
- Apart from their supposedly high food value, turtles are poached for their shells that are believed to be rich in calcium and smuggled out of the country for medicinal use.
- Smaller varieties like the star tortoise are popular as pets and can fetch anything close to $100.
- With a decline in the turtle population in West Bengal, illegal traders are now sourcing them from Punjab and Gujarat.
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=31&id=8972&Itemid=1&sectionid=21

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KALINGA TIMES (Orissa, India) 30 March 08 Why do the Olive Ridleys play truant? (Manoj Kar)
Kendrapara (Orissa): Are the sea turtles going to skip their annual visits for mass nesting to Gahirmatha coast? Has the rapidly fragmented and inconducive beaches anything to do with the Olive Ridleys playing truant? Did the trawl fishing and human interference affect their privacy?
These pertinent points have come under sharp debate even as there are no signs of arribada, a Spanish term that describes the unique natural heritage of millions of these marine species converging on the nesting ground in this part of the state for laying eggs.
As their annual sojourn getting inordinately delayed, wildlife lovers and forest personnel are apprehensive and worried a lot.
Each year Olive Ridley turtles in million of numbers used to turn up for laying eggs during January-February in world's largest-known rookery of these species along the Gahirmatha beach.
There are instances in past when turtles made their appearance towards 1st week of March. But it was never delayed beyond that.
"We are still hopeful. We are expecting it at any time from now," said forest officials.
It should be noted here that mass nesting of Olive Ridleys has already come to an end along Rushikulya river mouth during February.
Experts are yet to arrive at definite conclusion that has led to the disappearance of turtles.
All along mystery hovers around the behaviour and habitation pattern of these marine species. Research is yet to throw much light on these. They continue to prefer Orissa coast for breeding and nesting. But nothing much is known about their destination once they leave the Orissan coast after laying eggs.
Delay in emergence of turtles along the Gahirmatha might be due to multiplicity of factors. But these conclusions are in the realm of speculation, view experts.
In all probability, sea erosion that has paved the way for rapid topographical changes in the 12 km long Gahirmatha beach might be distracting the turtles.
Fragmented beaches with its area reduced considerably over the years might be proving less congenial for en-masse emergence of turtles for arribada.
This apart, the face of the nesting ground has turned steep and sharp inconveniencing the turtles in the act of climbing up to the nesting ground, opine turtle experts.
This year has proved to be disastrous for Ridleys as there has been alarming spurt in mortality rate of these species.
Despite ban on fishing, trawls trespass into turtle congregation zones and in the process, these species have perished in thousands either by getting hit by trawl propeller or getting entangled in mono-filament fishing nets.
The man-made interference of this nature has emerged as prominent factor to distract the turtles towards Gahirmatha nesting ground.
http://www.kalingatimes.com/orissa_news/news2/20080330-Olive-Ridleys-play.htm

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New York Times: At Least 20 Turtles Die in Bangladesh

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- At least 20 endangered sea turtles have washed up dead along the southern Bangladesh coast over the last week, an official said Wednesday.

The olive ridley turtles -- ranging from 90-130 pounds -- were found dead on Monday and Tuesday, and more were reportedly found on other parts of the sandy coast, said government conservation official M.A. Hannan.

Pollution and the use of illegal nets by fishermen near the shoreline were believed responsible for the deaths in Cox's Bazar district, but conservationists were investigating, he said.

Olive ridleys, the smallest of all sea turtles, are endangered. They come ashore during September to March to lay eggs along Bangladesh's coast, Hannan said.

Last year, several hundred of the turtles died along the same coast, officials said.

Ainun Nishat, local head of the Geneva-based World Conservation Union, said the government should focus on informing fishermen how to properly release turtles caught in their nets.

''We can prevent most of the deaths of the turtles if the fishermen are aware enough,'' Nishat told The Associated Press by phone.

The government has launched a conservation project with the help of the United Nations Development Program to protect turtle eggs on beaches. ''We have already collected more than 1,500 eggs for breeding this year,'' said Hannan.

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Associated Press Writer Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Bangladesh-Dead-Turtles.html

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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) 13 February 07 Malaysia's turtles no more
(AFP) The mass nestings of leatherback turtles on Malaysia's beaches was once one of nature's great spectacles but since 2000, not a single baby leatherback has scampered to the sea.
The demise of the iconic turtle, which many scientists say is now effectively extinct here, is blamed on a local appetite for their eggs, coastal development, destructive fishing practices - and a heartbreaking scientific mistake.
"Frankly there is very little hope for the leatherback, judging by the nesting trends and that none have hatched for six years," says Professor Chan Eng Heng of the Universiti Terengganu Malaysia.
Malaysia once had one of the biggest leatherback populations in the world and the coast of Terengganu state in the country's east was one of the 10 principal nesting sites globally for the gentle giants.
In the 1950s, up to 10,000 female turtles struggled up the beach to lay their eggs each year, but by 1984 this had fallen to 800 and by 2006 only five nests were found from two turtles, with no hatchlings emerging.
It is believed the breeding population is now too small to be sustainable.
The previously common Olive Ridley Turtle is also thought lost to the area, and the hawksbill and green turtles are also in danger.
Kamarruddin Ibrahim has laboured in the hatcheries of Terengganu's Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) for over 20 years and admits he is bitterly frustrated by the current situation, but refuses to concede defeat.
He hopes to resuscitate the population with a complicated egg relocation program in which fertilised eggs around the world would be flown to Malaysia where they would hopefully survive and return to breed.
"It's very expensive and difficult, but it's worked in America before and I think there are populations in the Philippines that we could use," he says.
"There is some hope, we've released nearly half a million hatchlings and they will come back. The leatherback takes 30 to 50 years to reach breeding time, they are out there," he says.
"I admire Kamarruddin's optimism, but the figures show leatherbacks around the Pacific are all in serious decline," says Chan.
A hatchery program for the leatherback was begun in Malaysia in the 1960s when concerns were first raised about turtle numbers, but unfortunately what was designed as a helping hand turned out to be disastrous.
Turtle eggs are extremely sensitive to heat and movement. If the ambient temperature sits above 30 degrees the offspring are almost guaranteed to be female, but if it is below 28 degrees it will almost certainly be male.
Early on turtle eggs were kept in open boxes to collect the sun's warmth, but unknown to the scientists, for 30 years Terengganu's turtle hatcheries were releasing hundreds of thousands of almost exclusively female turtles.
"The research came out in maybe the middle 1980s, but because of distance and knowledge we didn't know until the 1990s," says Kamarruddin.
The harvesting of millions of eggs over the years for sale in local markets is credited as the major factor in the leatherback's decline.
Turtle egg soup is considered a delicacy in Malaysia's east coast states and despite consumption being illegal since 1989, the egg trade continues in Terengganu.
World-renowned turtle scientist Colin Limpus of Queensland Parks and Wildlife in Australia lays the threat to the leatherback's survival firmly on poachers.
"Unfortunately insufficient eggs were protected in the early decades of the hatcheries to provide sufficient recruitment for replacing the old-age adults in the population until the mid-late 1980s, by which time the population was severely depleted," he says.
For many years, turtle watching was one of the major tourist drawcards to Terengganu, and visitors were even known to haul themselves aboard the egg-laden females for rides up the beach.
But Limpus dismissed the long-held theory that the unruly tourists did significant harm.
"Tourists didn't kill turtles and tourists didn't kill turtle eggs or prevent nesting females from laying their eggs. After 1978 tourists only had access to a small part of the total nesting area. The egg harvesters had exclusive access outside the small tourist areas," he says.
With some turtle species migrating as far as Japan and Irian Jaya, scientists also highlight the use of drift nets and long-line fishing in the open seas as another major contributing factor in the decline.
"In the 1970s a lot of leatherbacks were killed by the high-seas drift nets. They were dubbed the curtains of death," Chan says.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/malaysias-turtles-no-more/2007/02/13/1171128943219.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

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THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 10 December 07 Stiff security for sea turtles - Operation olive to watch over illegal trade
Cuttack: Environment agencies are leaving no expense spared to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle, with the nesting season to start soon.
For the past month surveillance has been beefed up along the coast and along the preferred nesting spots — these December visitors are known for their weakness for the Devi river-mouth, the Gahirmatha and the Rushikulya banks for nesting purposes.
Therefore, forest officers have come up with protection camps at Gahirmatha, the world’s largest rookery for the Olive Ridley, while Coast Guard officers are planning to deploy a ship there under their Operation Olive. Central excise and customs department officials are keeping a close watch on trawler operations by scrutinising papers, licences and consignments.
The species has been under threat as their meat, blood, egg and carcass — are sold in the markets of Bengal, Northeast and in neighbouring countries of China, Tibet, Korea and Bangladesh. And their numbers are becoming less every year. Last year, 1.47-lakh turtles laid eggs in Gahirmatha, while in 2005, 2.67 lakh turned up.
Sources believe that the turtle trade has now allured drug cartels, which are investing in turtle peddling, due to its quick money and less risk. Then there is the growing demand in the domestic and international market where turtle blood and carcass is considered useful for medicine and fetch high prices.
Of late, turtle cartels have shifted to deeper waters, especially to the high seas, with stricter laws governing the shallow waters since mid nineties. The poachers have switched over to mechanised trawlers and boats and the lack of permanent patrolling vessels and manpower shortage has given a boost to poaching.
Officials, however, claim that measures are in place to protect the December visitors. The government has banned fishing within 20-km radius of Gahirmatha sanctuary near Bhitarkanika from November 1 to May 30. “Besides, there are 16 protection camps, including three on the sea, which have been set up with forest guards and police,” said A.K. Jena, divisional forest officer of the Rajnagar wildlife division.
The department has also set up hatcheries at Agarnasi, Pentha and Babubali in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Forest squads have been directed to collect eggs from the pits and put them in hatcheries — away from predators and poachers.
Some infiltrators from Bangladesh, who have settled along coastal islands and pockets of Bhitarkanika sanctuary, are being watched as the waters act as conduits of trade.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071211/asp/nation/story_8651712.asp

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REUTERS (India) 17 January 07 Stray dogs targeted as India bids to save turtles
Kolkata: Authorities in eastern India have decided to round up thousands of stray dogs on the coast to stop them eating the eggs and hatchlings of the rare Olive Ridley turtles, officials said on Wednesday.
Some 300,000 of the turtles, an endangered species, visit the beaches of Orissa every year to lay their eggs, providing a feast for some 2,000 stray dogs.
"Ahead of the important egg-laying period in February, we thought of undertaking the population control of dogs to save the turtles," Bishnu Pada Sethi, director of the state veterinary and animal husbandry department, told Reuters.
Hundreds of health workers will round up the dogs and sterilise them before releasing them in villages away from areas the turtles head for, Sethi said from state capital Bhubaneswar.
The sterilisation could stop pregnant bitches from looking for eggs to feed themselves and later their puppies. Thousands of Olive Ridleys are also killed every year for their meat and what many people see as their medicinal value.
India has banned trawlers in turtle areas off the east coast. But still 8,000 to 10,000 dead turtles are washed ashore every year after getting caught in fishing nets, Greenpeace officials said.
"When you consider that only one out of a thousand hatchlings makes it into the sea, controlling the dog population is one of the many efforts required to save the turtle," Sanjiv Gopal, a Greenpeace expert said.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-01-17T171344Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-283966-1.xml&archived=False

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KHALEEJ TIMES (Dubai, UAE) 22 September 06 Accidental discovery exposes endangered animal smuggling ring

Lucknow, India (AP): When a dead snake dropped out of a package being carried by a courier, it not only scared the messenger, but tipped police off to a large-scale smuggling operation of endangered animal specimens.
When they opened up the package, they found it full of dead, preserved animals, including five adult cobras, 97 baby cobras and 91 baby Olive Ridley sea turtles.
We never thought, not even in our dreams, that someone would send dead animals through a courier packet,’ Manoj Jaiswal, the owner of the courier company, told The Associated Press by phone from the city of Agra.
Police were quickly called and launched an investigation into the strange find.
The seizure is worth US$10,000 on the international market,’ said S. P. Singh, a wildlife protection official.
Both the species are protected in India.
Officials believe the specimens are used in science laboratories, and in some cases in traditional medicines.
The cobra is worshipped in many parts of India, while the Olive Ridley turtle, the smallest of all sea turtles, is endangered. Beaches in the Indian state of Orissa are among the last breeding grounds for the turtle, named for the color of its shell.
The animals were discovered last week, but it was not possible to confirm the details until now.
Following the find, police raided the house of Brijesh Upadhaya, to whom the package was addressed. There they found thousands more dead endangered animals, including sharks, octopuses, sea-horses, chameleons and snakes _ including cobras, pythons and vipers.
Upadhaya and his wife had fled and police were looking for him.
Police also arrested two men in the southern city of Chennai, where the package originated, Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Singh said the specimens were ultimately intended for a firm in the US He refused to name the company or its city, saying it could hamper the investigation.
Manoranjan Chaudhry, a wildlife expert said the smugglers first kill the animals with chloroform. Then they are preserved and sent to different locations.
It is a big racket ... the animals are sent to different parts of the globe,’ he said.
Chaudhry estimates that a cobra skin sells for between US$100-to-US$200 (Ð78-to-Ð156)on the black market. It all depends on the variety and length of the snake. The baby cobra could be purchased for half the price,’ he said.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September822.xml&section=subcontinent

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THE STATESMAN (Kolkata, India) 04 March 06 Dogs attack nesting Olive Ridleys
Kendrapara: Canines have been feasting on Olive Ridley turtles engaged in annual nesting along Nasi-2 beach of Gahirmatha coast.
The nesting ground is close to a DRDO defence installation on Wheeler’s Island and unmanned areas under the defence project have become home to stray dogs.
As the turtles emerge from the sea to lay eggs, canine intruders make their way to the nesting ground in groups to pounce on the giant marine species.
Divisional forest officer, Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest division officials said the department is worried over the rapid population growth of dogs on Wheelers’ Island as reports from turtle protection camps indicate there are instances of killer dogs attacking the turtles.
The forest department had earlier requested the DRDO to launch measures so that dogs could be stopped from entering nesting ground. Once they step on the beach, there is a possibility of their attacking the turtles. While skeletal forest staff deployed there succeeded in driving away the rampaging dogs, they also failed to protect some turtles being devoured by the canines.
An official said the dogs were on prohibited defence territory. Unless defence personnel drove these unwanted guests away, once the eggs hatched in two months’ time, the baby turtles would be in great peril, he said.“Dogs simply invaded the Nasi nesting ground as soon as the nesting of the turtles began. They would roam in groups and feast on freshly laid eggs, as we watched helplessly. They were not scared of lathi-wielding forest guards,” a forest personnel engaged in keeping vigil on the unmanned Island said.
Officials said a protective fencing of fishing nets had been erected to prevent the dogs from entering the nesting ground. But this too failed to stop the dogs.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=108597

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