Green turtles awareness programme

KARACHI - Sandspit and Hawks Bay beaches and Sindh Wildlife, in a joint venture, are doing their level best to create awareness and provide an ideal environment for the breeding and hatching the green turtle, which has been listed as an endangered species.
According to the wildlife experts, only one turtle survives in one thousands hatchlings. Its breeding in different countries takes place usually from July to November. In Pakistan, the green turtle nests for eggs on Sand spit and Hawks Bay beaches from November to February. A female turtle nests three to four times during this season. Every year, an average of 800 nests are observed at the beaches in Karachi while coastal areas of Balochistan are also believed to have a large number of green turtles. Game officer Sindh Wildlife Department, Adnan Hamid, enthusiastically involved in the preservation this endangered species, told The Nation on Wednesday that the provincial Wildlife Department, took hundreds of students of various schools to local beaches with a view to create awareness among them about the endangered species.
The children took keen interest in the entire process of egg laying and hatching of the turtles.
Hamid said that students of Karachi Grammar School, Karachi Cambridge School, Karachi Japanese School, AMI School, Bay View Junior and Senior, Higher Academy Schools and other institutions visited the beaches. He said that so far the department has tacked 7,000 turtles and attach transmitters with four animals. He added that process of tacking was underway from 1980.Sindh Wildlife Department is organising Green Turtle Watch Trip at Sands Pit beach and thousands of the students from various schools visited these beaches.  According to the wildlife experts, on the average only one turtle survives out of one thousands hatched eggs.