Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Bali's Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) is saving more than 10,000 turtle eggs per year at Prancak beach, Jembrana district, according to a conservation official.
"We don't do it alone when saving the eggs as the local fishing communities and environmental non-governmental organizations assist us," said Sumarsono, conservation section head of Bali BKSDA, on Thursday.
Sumarsono added that BKSDA officers and members of the public patrol a 2-km track along Prancak beach almost every night in effort to save turtle eggs laid on the beach from being eaten by predators or stolen by humans.
He said that a parent turtle (Chelonia mydas) can lay about 80 to 140 eggs. BKSDA officers take the eggs from the dens for semi-natural hatching process.
The hatching process will normally take about one month until a young turtle is hatched which then are released back into the sea. The big threat for the young turtle when they start their own lives is the attack of predators at the sea.
Sumarsono said that Bali BKSDA resorts to releasing the young turtles back into the sea as it does not have sufficient budget to keep them in breeding centers. Both parent and young turtles feed only on some specific food items for them, notably shrimp and fish.
However, he added, Bali BKSDA will strive for preserving the turtles as they are protected animals either at Prancak beach and parts of Kuta beach, Badung regency.(*)
