Pawikans to be released on Saturday

Four juvenile sea turtles, raised for months in a small tank, will be released in the shore of the South Road Properties in Cebu City on Saturday.

They will have to crawl to the water, and find a new life in the ocean.

“They will be safe there because we will make sure they will be monitored by the Bantay Dagat,” said Ariel Rica, chief of the environment bureau’s biodiversity and wildlife section.

There was some concern that the reptiles, identified as Green Sea Turtles kept in the BG Rainforest Park Cebu, would not be able to adapt to the wild after spending most of their young lives in a one-cubic-meter concrete and glass aquarium.

“Their natural instinct will save them. They naturally know how to hunt for food,” Nilo Ramoso of the Pawikan Conservation Project told Cebu Daily News.

“The more that we prolong their captivity, the more they will be vulnerable to predators.”

Only four turtles will be released. A fifth one was found to have an injured front flipper and not fit for release.

The DENR 7 corrected its earlier identification of the turtles as Hawksbill turtles, which are on the list of endangered species. They are actually Green Sea Turtles with the scientific name Chelonia mydas, also an endangered species based on a new DENR assessment last Wednesday.

The marine animals were still small hatchlings when DENR personnel made an inventory in Nov. 12 last year and tagged them as Hawksbill turtles.

They are now bigger and ready for the wild, said Rica chief of DENR’s Biodiversity and Wildlife Management Section.

Butch Guillen, president and CEO of BG Rainforest Park, earlier said the turtles were hatchlings the size of a human palm when they were donated by the friend of his daughter.

The year-old private zoo in F. Cabahug Street was recently ordered by the DENR 7 to release the turtles, improve conditions in the facility and produce permits for animals displayed in the zoo to show they were obtained from accredited sources.

A species is considered endangered when its chance of survival in the wild is at risk because of several factors like hunting.

This listing by the government based on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The turtles were fed shrimp by caretakers every night, according to a report by the DENR which issued a notice of violation against the zoo park on Nov. 15, 2012 for failing to submit documents to prove the zoo acquired the wildlife legally.

Guillen said the zoo management would submit documents for the animals and an action plan to correct lapses noted by the DENR in time for an April 8 deadline.

He said the owners were “fully committed to support the conservation and protection of wildlife” as part of its advocacy of protecting the natural environment.

Rainforest Park has a “Clearance to Operate” a zoological park and botanical garden in Cebu City. The clearance was issued by the DENR, which is also requiring the park to produce permits for each animal.

The turtle with an injured flipper may have been bitten by another turtle, a common phenomenon when food is scarce, said Ramoso.

The tank had two chambers, approximately one cubic meter each, half filled with sea water, and housed two turtles. Yesterday the injured turtle was kept in a separate tank to allow its wound to heal.

If they were still babies or hatchlings, they would have less than one percent chance of survival if released in the wild, said Ramoso.

Kester Yu of Save Philippine Seas said hatchlings have to be acclimatized first.

“Usually turtles that are held captive, kept inside an aquarium are acclimatized because these are used to the enclosure, the lighting. There are a lot of things that could happen when turtles are released. Dapat nilang kinakatakutan ang tao,” Yu said.

The turtles could get entangled in fishing nets or get hunted for food.

“We hope they will be very active in the wild. Based on the reports the turtles seem to be healthy and very active,” said Ramoso, who said they were fit for release.

The juvenile turtles have a carapace or shell of less than 35 centimeters so PAWB won’t attach metal tags for identification.

“Let us leave them in the wild. Maintain the good health of the sea. Avoid throwing garbage that might endanger the lives of the marine animals. With that, they can survive in the wild,” Ramoso said.