Our First World Turtle Day at TCC was celebrated yesterday in honour of all the children at Mangkuk Village in Setiu. Each child who was brave enough to hold a terrapin and not drop it was given a 10-month old river terrapin to release at Tebing Pasir Penarik, an important nesting bank for the terrapins in the Setiu River. The smaller ones were aided by an adult who helped them hold and release the terrapins. We had only three terrapins left for adults and these lucky adults had as much fun as the kids. A total of 60 terrapins were released.
The event brought smiles to everyone’s face. Pelf and I managed to control the 70-odd rowdy kids, many of whom had never held a terrapin before.
I would like to express our thanks to Malek and his family who have helped us look after the terrapins since December 2009; Luq and Pok from Ping Anchorage who helped us carry the terrapins and children in their big lorry to the release site, and to Nestle who provided boxed Milo drinks for the children.
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- Children helping Pelf to select terrapins for release
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- Spectators watch kids releasing terrapins
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- Excited over releasing terrapins
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- What a joy to behold these happy faces
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- Happy faces
Added by Pelf:
More pictures of the release can be found on our TCC Facebook Page :)
It was very fun and we should do it more often. Too bad we don’t have an unlimited number of terrapins to release :(
That’s true Pelf. Our next planned activity holds promise for lots of fun too :)
next time if got other activities also can ask us join and help…
terrapins: thx to u all =)
The idea came to us a day before the release event. And I had actually thought about inviting you guys to join us but it was a little too late that day.
Anyway, we have a HUGE event coming up, at the end of June. I will call you then, OK? :)
Looks like great fun!
Oh yes Meg, it was a lot of fun watching the excited children eagerly waiting to release their terrapin. And those looks on their faces when their terrapin was crawling into the river? Priceless! :)
Congratulations and Well Done.
Thank you very much, Tan Sri! We look forward to seeing you again at our official opening :D
Just let turtles be turtles, do not raise them in pools, it is not good for them. Let children and people watch hatchlings emerge from the nest and mom turtles nesting on the beach, much better for the turtles and more interesting for the people. what you are doing is not good conservation practice and is misleading to the public. It is clear that you care about the turtles, just seek some expert advice and guidance on best ecotourism practices
The scenario that you have just described is no doubt, the best scenario, where female turtles/terrapins nest on the beach and hatchlings emerge and crawl back into the sea/river.
But unfortunately, here in the Setiu River, the REAL scenario is far from what you have described. Female river terrapins do not have a chance to lay their eggs on the nesting bank, and the river terrapin eggs are being collected by the locals because the eggs are believed to contain aphrodisiac.
Hence, we are doing all that we can to not only change the mindset of the local egg collectors, but also to educate the younger generations on the importance of saving the river terrapins. If you could spare some time, I’d like to invite you to our Mini Turtle Museum in Kg. Mangkok, Setiu, Terengganu. And I will be pleased to give you a detailed commentary about the work that we do, as well as answer any questions that you might have :D