We spent an afternoon with Tan Sri Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor, Turtle Conservation Centre’s co-founder in Penarik on the 11th of September 2009. Tan Sri was shown the site the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) team had helped us select for the TCC during their visit a week earlier. It is indeed a beautiful location that spans an area of about 4.4 acres. We also brought 8 river terrapins along for Tan Sri to release them and he has agreed to adopt 6 of them for his grandchildren while En. Sulaiman, Tan Sri’s friend who drove us to Penarik agreed to adopt the remaining 2. It was quite an eventful afternoon as we had to summon Rani, Nafizi and other villagers to come help us as Sulaiman’s car got stuck in the sand :) All the pictures were taken by Pelf.
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- Showing Tan Sri the map of the site and the lots we will have to acquire from the private owners.
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- Reading the microchip no. of the terrapin about to be released.
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- TCC Co-Founders sharing a terrapin for a momento
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- Tan Sri releasing the last terrapin into the Setiu River.
Out of curiosity, has any study been carried out to determine the cause of the dwindling population of the terrapin. Is it because of man created desruption or tides from the South China sea during Monsoon season , pollution upstream of rivers Setiu, Caluk etc.
Regards
Peter Lim