We released over 400 one and two year old river terrapins into the Dungun River today. These terrapins have been raised in the university’s Terrapin Head Starting Facility and the result of our two year (2006-2007) collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP).
Slot J volunteers have just returned with exuberant stories to tell. 16 landings in one of their nights, hawksbill nesting at 3 pm, the return of Little Princess to lay her 4th nest and to top it all, they have come away with the maximum number of nests so far for their one week in Chagar Hutang.
That was what happened on the 2nd of June An orchestration of three events made possible with the assistance of Fong and Nurul who helped receive our visitors from KL and brought them to the terrapin release site in Penarik.
The release of 70 three-year-old painted terrapins will be performed by 14 members of the Persatuan Penganut Agama Buddha Amitabha, our longterm sponsor who has been supporting our work for many years. Saving river terrapin eggs from human consumption, incubating the eggs and raising the hatchlings with loving kindness is consistent with the beliefs of the Persatuan.
Nurul and Fong are kept busy monitoring the hatching and notching, weighing and measuring the hatchlings. We have 14 nests / boxes and hatchlings have emerged from 7 of them. As of now, we have over 100 new hatchlings.
Yes, our amazing Little Princess has returned to nest in Chagar Hutang, 17 days after her last nesting emergence. She deposited her third nest for the season, laying a total of 162 eggs on 18th May.